Fighting Fairies
by Omili
Summary: After returning from a two week long trip to get some private affairs in order, Lucy is astounded to find the Guild in a war between the sexes. With only Wendy, Romeo and the Exceeds not caught up in the fighting, how will things unfold? Will Lucy get everyone to calm down? Some Nalu, Friendship fic, Lucy Wendy Romeo Exceeds team action
1. Chapter 1

Welcome everyone to my first ever Fairy Tail fanfiction. Thanks for checking it out.

I'm gonna be straight with you, I'm not a native, so the story might not be written as well as it could be, but I would be really glad if you gave it a chance.

This isn't exactly a romance, but it will have hints (rather strong hints actually) for Nalu.

Any and all kind of feedback and suggestions for ongoing chapters is more than welcome. Though I have the story mostly figured out, there is nothing that says that certain things can't be added or changed if someone has a good idea for the plot.

This story plays sometime after the Grand Magic Games. Please keep in mind that I have only read up to the latest chapter so far and don't know how things are going to turn out. So any developments in characters or their powers will simply be ignored for the sake of this fic. I probably won't even mention the GMG at all. As it isn't important for the plot. I just mentioned it so you know that Laxus is an accepted and wanted part of the guild and all that.

I tried beta-ing the story myself, but I might have missed some errors. If you spot some (or not) and would like to help me with future chapters, please contact me through review or PM.

On another note, I'm really not good when it comes to formatting on this site. I don't know why this seems to be so complicated for me, but I just don't get how it works here. I hope the story is readable non the less.

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Chapter 1

Lucy sighed happily as she finally got off the train - after six long hours - at Magnolia station.

She took a deep breath of fresh air, smiling as the warm sun hit her face.

It felt good to be home again. Smiling, she took the handle of her suitcase and started in the direction of her apartment. Occasionally stopping to return the greetings many of the passerby's called out to her, Lucy thought back to the reason for her latest journey.

Approximately three weeks ago, a letter from the capitol bank of Fiore had been delivered to her home. The capitol bank of Fiore was not only the biggest bank on the continent, it was also the only one that handled all upper class and royal real-estate and property arrangements.

One of those was the old Heartfilia Mansion and land.

The letter had stated that if Lucy, as the only heir of the Heartfilia title, wished to have any future claim over her family's assets, she needed to make the necessary arrangements with the bank's manager, a Mr. Scroots, in the span of the next fourteen days.

Lucy had at first been confused. After her father had lost all his money, she didn't even know that she **had** any claim over her childhood home.

So, after swiftly getting her affairs in order, she had packed her suitcase and boarded the next train.

Of course, she had first needed to dissuade her team from accompanying her.

Somehow the three of them had gotten it into their heads that it might be a trap and someone was trying to lure Lucy away from her friends and family to kidnap her.

It had taken Lucy every imaginable threat and reassurance she could think of to finally calm Erza and Gray down enough to make them understand that their fears were unfounded.

She shuddered to think what an impatient and domineering Titania and an ice mage that couldn't keep his clothes on for any lengths of time would have done to her dealings with Mr. Scroots.

Natsu though had been a harder nut to crack.

Not even the threat of the six hour train ride had stopped him from insisting he accompany her. Though Lucy was touched that he was willing to endure twelve hours of motion sickness just to make sure she was safe, she didn't think it was a sacrifice worth making.

She didn't relish in the thought of watching him suffer through the train ride and then dealing with his boredom when he finally realized that there was no evil villain for him to beat up.

So she had promised him that she would keep both Loke and Horologium on standby, so that if anything happened, her strongest spirit would hold off whoever was attacking her, while the grandfather clock would transport her to the spirit world.

When Natsu had still been unsure though, Lucy summoned Virgo and asked the maid spirit to supply her with enough clothes from the spirit world for her entire time away, just so her pink haired best friend was reassured that Lucy would actually be able to stay in the spirit world, where she would be safe.

Of course, all that hadn't been necessary as the arranged talk with Mr. Scroots had gone smoothly.

It had still taken them more than a week to sort everything out, though.

But now, after two weeks of tiring discussions and mountains of paperwork (and daily insta-lacrima messages to her friends back home so that they, and especially Natsu, wouldn't lose the last bits of rationality and decide to storm the town in order to safe her from some kind of imagined danger) she was finally back home!

The blonde celestial mage grinned in anticipation when she thought about going to the guild and seeing all her friends again.

Her step quickened a little, wanting to drop off her luggage at her apartment already so that she could head to Fairy Tail.

She thought about the book she had found in one of the big city stores that she just knew Levy would love.

She thought about the friendly old receptionist at the hotel she had been staying in, who had given her a special strawberry cake recipe, which she wanted Erza to try (after asking Mirajane if she would help her make it.)

She thought about the magic tome she had read in the towns great library, that had mentioned a useful trick for ice users she wanted to tell Gray about.

The many different kind of fish she had seen at the market there that would make Happy's eyes bug out.

The bottle of special brand rum she had bought for Cana (which had nearly cost as much as her rent), the cute hair band she had found for Wendy (who had been talking about wanting to try out a new hairstyle), the staff weapon for Romeo and the music crystal containing all the latest rock songs for Juvia. Who knew the girl would grow to like this kind of music after their battle against Vidalus Taka.

And Natsu.

Her pace slowed a little.

She had been thinking about her salmon haired partner a lot lately.

Especially during the last two weeks. Of course, he would have probably driven her insane had he tagged along with her, but she had missed him.

Him and his stupid big grin and his dark charcoal eyes and the warmth of his body.

His whining during the train ride that would only lessen when she finally gave in and let him lay his head on her lap.

Then he would start whining anew, until she began running her fingers through his hair in a soothing rhythm.

Most of the time this still wasn't enough to lull him to sleep, but at least he wasn't close to puking his guts out, like he usually would be while on transportation.

Sometimes he even felt good enough for some light conversation.

Lucy smiled softly.

She really loved all of her guild mates, but she had recently discovered that Natsu had a special place in her heart.

Which wasn't really all that surprising. She rationalized.

It had been Natsu who had found her, saved her and brought her to Fairy Tail all those years ago.

It had been Natsu who protected and saved her again and again when an opponent proved too much for her to handle.

It had been Natsu who had uprooted a tree for her.

Her smile got wider.

That tree was one of her fondest, most cherished memories.

Lucy doubted Natsu even knew what his gesture had meant to her. The memory added a little skip to her step as she was finally headed to the guild after quickly dumping her luggage at home. She had shortly thought about grabbing all the presents for her guild mates, but that would have involved unpacking and sorting through everything and she simply didn't have the patience for that right now.

She would get them later.

Right now she was too anxious to see her family again.

So anxious, in fact, that she at first didn't notice the unusual sight right before the guild doors.

Only when she was mere feet away did she see the familiar forms of the two youngest guild members and three Exceeds.

And their rather depressed expressions.

"Romeo, Wendy, Happy Charle, Lily? What are you doing out here? And what is with those long faces?"

The five in question looked up at the voice, their faces instantly brightening with joy.

"Lucy!"

They jumped up from their positions on the ground and ran towards the blonde. Happy got there first, having activated his arial magic and flying into the soft comfort of Lucy's chest. Wendy and Romeo nearly tackled her to the ground, latching on to her waist. Charle and Lily kept back a little, but the smiles on their faces were proof enough that they were glad to have Lucy back.

After regaining her balance, Lucy did her best to return all three hugs with her two arms. She laughed.

"I missed you guys too. So, what's been going on while I was away?"

And suddenly the happy reunion was over as Romeo and Wendy looked up at Lucy with worried expressions and Happy buried himself deeper into her generous chest.

"Lucy it's terrible!" said Wendy, balling her hands into her light orange dress.

Romeo beside her nodded, a bitter look on his face as he directed his stare to the ground, fists clenched tightly at his sides. The smiles on Charle's and Lily's faces disappeared.

Lucy's happy mood vanished in an instant.

"What happened? Was the guild attacked? Is anyone hurt?"

Panic and dread rose inside her at the thought. What could have happened to her family while she was gone? Guilt was the next to assault her. She never should have insisted on a 'one-way-message-lacrima'. She had thought it would be better if the others could only receive her messages.

Lucy had been afraid that if they could contact her themselves, Natsu would constantly call, probably at the most inopportune times, trying to convince her to let him come after her. And she had honestly doubted her ability to withstand his puppy eyes for too long.

Had her selfish wish for some peace and quiet prevented her comrades from reaching her in a state of emergency? Bile rose up her throat. She would never forgive herself if one of her precious people had come to harm while she had been blissfully unaware of the danger they were facing.

Erza, Gray, Levy, Cana, Natsu – What if Natsu was hurt?

But before the panicking celestial mage could storm inside the guild to assure herself that her loved ones were alright, Romeo quickly shook his head.

"It's nothing like that. No one is hurt. But…" He broke off, seemingly not knowing how to continue.

The wave of relieve that Lucy felt when she heard that everyone was alright, was washed away by the new worry of what else might be wrong. She was about to panic anew, when Happy lifted his head out of her bosom and looked at her with wide, teary eyes.

"Everyone is fighting, Lucy!"

Lucy looked at the blue Exceed in her arms and blinked once, then twice.

"What?"

Thinking she hadn't heard him right, Happy quickly repeated his statement.

"Everyone is being mean to each other and they are fighting all the time!"

After a quick look at the other four for confirmation, Lucy let out a huge sigh of relieve.

"That's it? Really guys, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

Wendy, seeing that their friend was misjudging the situation, quickly shook her head.

"But it's really serious Lucy!"

The blonde just smiled down at the young girl though and gently petted her head.

"The guys are always fighting, it's like their way of communicating with each other. Don't worry."

Lucy was about to take a step towards the guild when Romeo grabbed her hand, looking at her with great distress.

"It's different this time Lucy! This one isn't like their usual fights at all! And it's been going on for three days already!"

Now Lucy was getting worried again. Maybe this really was more serious than she had at first thought. Realizing she needed more information she steered her five companions to a group of benches close to them and all sat down.

"Okay, tell me what happened."

Relieved that the celestial mage was now taking them seriously, Wendy began the story.

"It all started about 8 days ago, when the guild received a very special request from the Smithonian family."

Lucy gasped at hearing that name.

"The Smithonian family? They are like the second wealthiest family in all of Fiore! They had even more property than us, before father lost everything."

Romeo nodded, taking over the explanation.

"At first it looked like a simple rescue mission. The fiance of their oldest son had been kidnapped by unknown mages, though from what the bodyguards said, they were powerful. Which is why Mr. Smithonian insisted the mission be marked as S-Class."

Lucy nodded, looking over to Lily as he opened his mouth.

"The problem was that the family didn't have the slightest idea who had taken the girl. And though a ransom demand had been delivered, it wasn't much to go on. The family asked to spare as many qualified mages as possible, to cover more ground for investigation and Master agreed."

Lucy nodded again, approving of the tactic. As a former heiress, she knew all too well the many enemies too much money made and how extremely these enemies could differ in not only appearance, power and motives, but personal background and social status as well. And even if the family paid the ransom money, the safe return of the kidnapped person was never guaranteed. So, many avenues had to be investigated. Wendy continued.

"The Master thought it best to use a group of mages and divide them into two, each with their own purpose. One for information gathering and finding the woman, the other for fighting the kidnappers."

That also made sense to Lucy. As information was so sparse, trying to find it could send it's seekers in many a different direction. And since time and discretion were of essence in kidnapping cases, - as to not tip off the kidnappers - traveling in a large group was counterproductive.

And since no one knew of the extent or element of the enemy mages power, facing them alone could have had disastrous consequences.

This way though, one group of mages, the seekers, would use their skills and energy to find the opponents hideout, while the other group, the fighters, would lie in wait until one of the seekers found their target and then storm in, ready to battle.

"Master chose Mirajane, Erza, Levy and Cana to search for information and Laxus, Gajeel, Natsu and Gray to handle the kidnappers as soon as one of the girls found them."

It was a good match up.

The client had requested as much fire power as possible with making the mission an S-Class one. So the three available S-Class mages would naturally be part of the mission. The groups composition was logical as well.

Though Erza was the strongest woman in Fairy Tail, she was also very experienced when it came to interrogation. Levy could crack any code she came across and connect different pieces of information easily. Mirajane would either be able to charm anyone into telling her what she wanted to know, or summon her Demon soul to intimidate the information out of them. And Cana blended perfectly in any bar or tavern in any town, were the 'word on the street' and latest rumors would be easy to pick up.

Laxus, Natsu and Gajeel as three of the four resident dragon slayers also had their place on the battle team and Gray could more than hold his own and adapted quickly to different fighting situations.

Happy took over the next part of the story, having made himself comfortable on Lucy's lap.

"They finished the mission in only three days. Levy found the kidnappers hideout and contacted the guild. Then the guys hurried to her location, while Master called Erza, Mirajane and Cana back. While Levy took care of the kidnapped woman, Natsu, Laxus, Gray and Gajeel kicked the evil mages asses!"

So far everything sounded fine to Lucy. She was in fact very proud of her friends.

Fairy Tails teamwork was simply the best.

But Charle's next words brought her happy thoughts down.

"And that's when the trouble began. See, the Smithonians had offered a huge reward for the rescue of their future daughter in law. And since it was a group effort, the Master thought it would only be fair that the money gets used in a way that benefits everyone. He gave the two groups a choice to either invest the money in a new training hall with the newest D.P. magic,"

Lucy's eyes widened at that. D.P. was short for Damage Prevention. This kind of magic was relatively new on the market and highly expensive. She had read about it in the latest 'Weekly Sorcerer'. The magic council themselves had created this lacrima powered magic system that was able to reinforce any kind of building to a degree that it could withstand standard attacks from a power level of one of the wizard saints.

With this kind of training hall, the hotheads of Fairy Tail could beat each other stupid without destroying the guild every time.

"- or build a new lounge for the members, outfitted with the newest lacrima comfort system."

Now her jaw dropped open.

The Lacrima comfort system, or LCS for short, was pure luxury.

It could turn any room into a five star hotel.

The LCS was interlinked with many different, and mostly prestigious, shops all around Fiore. It also had a huge database encompassing various topics.

It's design was similar to Hibiki's archive magic. A little bit of magic power and the right words would summon a magical display with control keys that would then allow the person using it to browse through its various commodities.

One could, for example, select and order clothes from a shop connected to the system without having to leave the room. As well as other purchase-able goods.

It's databank offered not only knowledge, but also entertainment as some of the more famous authors of this time chose to publish their works there first. Some magazines, like the Weekly Sorcerer, also had an information network linked to the system. And the room itself, as well as its furniture, was bespelled to respond to different commands as well.

Be it air conditioning during a heat wave, or comfortable warmth in the cold of winter.

And many other features.

As the others saw Lucy process the information, Romeo spoke again.

"Natsu, Gray, Gajeel and Laxus voted for the D.P. Training hall, but Erza, Mirajane, Cana and Levy immediately shot them down, saying they wanted the new lounge instead. And then the arguing began. At first it was all pretty normal, with the guys insisting on their right to choose, while the girls pressed their own. Some more guild members made their opinions known, but it was all still normal 'Fairy Tail fighting', you know?"

Lucy nodded, signaling him to go on.

"But then suddenly someone – I don't even remember who it was anymore – said that since the guys did all the 'real work' on this mission, they should get to choose."

At that point, Lucy frowned angrily. Just because Natsu, Gray, Gajeel and Laxus were the ones fighting, didn't mean the work that Erza, Cana, Levy and Mira did was any less significant.

Seeing the blondes reaction to this part of the story, Wendy took over.

"As you can probably guess, the girls didn't take all too kindly to that. So Erza pointed out that without them, they wouldn't even have known where to find their opponents to beat up. Then Laxus said that she, Cana and Mira weren't the ones who found them and that Levy, the one who actually did, hadn't even needed to fight and only looked after the girl. So then Cana said something to the extent that the only reason the teams had been divided as they had been, was that guys were too stupid to do anything beyond letting their muscles speak for them, which caused Gajeel to counter that obviously, the reason was that girls were simply too weak to do a man's job. And then it kinda snowballed from there."

Lily spoke next.

"All the girls were offended by what the guys said, and all the guys were offended by what the girls said. And suddenly it was like a rift had formed between the genders. Pretty soon everyone was fighting, but only verbally and only versus the opposite sex.

Every stereotypical insult you can think of was thrown around. 'Women are weak.' 'Men are stupid.' 'Women only care about their looks.' 'Men only think with their libido.' 'Women are fickle.' 'Men are egomaniacs.'

It wasn't even about the reward money and its use anymore."

Lucy looked at her companions, troubled and confused.

"This doesn't sound like them at all. I mean, most of the members of Fairy Tail are hotheads just waiting for any excuse for a fight, but this… And there has never been an issue with gender discrimination before in our guild! Everyone knows just how strong Erza is and Mira is an S-Class mage for a reason. And Freed is one of our smartest members! And Natsu-, I know he can get swept up in the excitement of a fight, but he would normally rather just pummel Gray than occupy himself with a verbal spar against the girls."

Happy looked up at Lucy, his eyes showing the same troubled expression as hers.

"At first he wasn't really a part of the argument, even though he wanted the training hall, but then he just got angrier and angrier and all of a sudden, he was in a shouting match with Erza and the others. I don't understand it either!"

Lucy was at a loss.

"And this has been going on for the past three days?"

The others nodded solemnly.

"Why hasn't Master done anything to stop them?"

Charle snorted.

"I think at first he didn't interfere because he secretly wanted the guys to win. Probably so that he won't have to repair the guild hall every time those morons nearly tear it down in their fights. But then he got caught up in the arguments himself. This just went completely out of control."

Lily shook his head, a tired sigh escaping him.

"The guild is split into two fronts. Guys and girls. When they aren't insulting each other, they ignore the other side. No one has even gone on a mission in the last two days, far too occupied with sending their friends angry looks."

Lucy was astonished.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. They had to be exaggerating. Fairy Tail was family, right? Every family fought from time to time, right? It simply couldn't be this bad!

With what she hoped was more hopeful determination than dreadful desperation, she stood up, drawing everyone's attention to her.

"I have to see this for myself."

And then she quickly walked over to the guild doors, various emotions warring with each other as she put a shaky hand up to push open the door.

It couldn't be that bad!


	2. Chapter 2

I want to thank everyone who reviewed, put the story in the favorites, and follows this story. That really means a lot. Please let me know what you think so far.

Still haven't figured out the formatting here, just to warn you.

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Chapter 2

The first thing Lucy noticed after setting foot into the guild was the absence of noise.

There were no sounds of the usual fist fights, no Elfman screaming how something or other was 'man'.

No boisterous laughter, or drunk ramblings.

Still standing in the entrance of the building, she looked over the room. Everyone was there, but all the girls were sitting at the right side of the guild, while all the guys were gathered at the left.

And that wasn't the only change.

Cana wasn't sitting cross legged on a table, chugging down a barrel of wine, but instead sat bat/b the table, only a normal sized cup in her hand and an angry expression on her face.

Levy sat beside her, _not _reading.

The next table found Lisanna, Juvia and Erza together, talking quietly and taking turns in throwing dirty looks at the guys.

Bisca, Evergreen and Laki sat around little Asuka, apparently trying to cheer her up, though non of them looked particularly happy themselves.

Mirajane was behind the bar, but unlike any other time Lucy had seen her there, she didn't have that usual, serene smile on her face.

And she apparently refused to serve the guys, which was why Elfman stood a few feet beside her, pointedly not looking at his sister, and cleaning glasses.

Wakaba and Macao sat at the bar, quietly conversing with the male Strauss. None of them seemed to be really into the topic though.

Laxus, Bixlow and Freed sat together at a table, but the two self proclaimed bodyguards weren't fawning over their leader in the slightest and the thunder dragon slayer looked more annoyed than she had seen him since his return to the guild.

Alzack, who she spotted at a table with Nab, Max, Warren and Vijeeter, looked downright miserable, probably from being away from his wife and daughter. But he also made no attempt to even look over to the girls side.

Jet and Droy sat with Reedus and apparently Reedus was trying to gain the weight Droy tried to loose, as the painting mage had a big plate full of food, piled up to almost his nose, while Droy was poking his fork listlessly through his salad. The normally energetic Jet just stared into space, not moving a muscle.

The Master was perched on the bar, and just like Laxus he had an irritated look on his face. This might be the first time that Lucy actually noticed the family resemblance between the two. Beside him on the bar sat a big, black suitcase. Thinking about what she learned from Wendy, Romeo and the Exceeds, Lucy figured it contained the reward money from the Smithonians. The Master was probably guarding it until the issue was resolved.

And then, finally, she spotted the rest of her team. Gray and Natsu were sitting at another table on the 'guy side', with Gajeel.

Together.

Drinking what she assumed to be beer.

Together.

Not. Fighting.

This was SO wrong.

And it wasn't only everyone's behavior that was completely out of character.

The whole atmosphere in the Guild hall had changed. The very air around her seemed tense.

But still, Lucy remained hopeful. First impressions could be deceiving after all.

So she gulped slightly, closed her eyes, counted to three, and stepped forward.

"Hey everyone! I'm back!"

Natsu, who was the first to react to her presence, grinned widely and rushed towards her.

"Luce!"

And the next moment Lucy found herself in a very warm, very tight, embrace. It took about two seconds for her to realize that Natsu, her salmon haired, fire obsessed, best friend who she had just recently admitted to herself held a very special place in her heart, was actually hugging her. But as soon as that fact registered, her face grew red enough to rival Erza's hair.

Before she could wrap her own arms around him, however, he shifted his hands to her shoulders, suddenly holding her at arms lengths, and looking at her with a very serious expression.

"Are you ok? Did anything happen? Did anyone give you any trouble? Are you hurt anywhere? Just tell me who it was and I will burn them to a crisp!"

He was looking her over frantically and his hold on her shoulders had tightened with the last two questions.

Lucy couldn't help but smile and sigh in relieve. She had been right after all. Things WEREN'T that bad. She had, for a split second, feared that maybe, because of the current quarrel between the sexes, Natsu would simply ignore her, but that hadn't happened. He acted just like he was supposed to act. She looked at him.

"I'm alright, don't worry. Everything went fine. There was no trouble at all and I wasn't in any danger. So there is no need for you to fight anyone."

Erza, Gray and Levy also came up to her, the smiles on their faces evident.

"Hey Lucy, good to have you back."

She cast her eyes over the hall anew, and to her great relieve the tension from before seemed to have lessened some. On everyone's faces were varying smiles of welcome and relief that she had made it back unharmed. It wasn't the usual, happy and loud greeting of 'Welcome back' she and the others normally received, but it was still far more than she had anticipated when she first saw them all.

After another few seconds of careful scrutiny, Natsu was reassured that his partner really was free of injury, and his serious expression morphed back into his joyful grin.

"Great! Then you can help us with convincing the girls that we need a new training hall!"

And then things started to go downhill.

Gray hit Natsu over the head.

"Idiot! Lucy is a girl, so she will obviously not help us!"

At the same time Erza pulled Lucy away from Natsu and beside her and Levy.

"Tch. Of course Lucy won't help you! Unlike you guys, she knows how much more beneficial a new lounge will be for the guild."

Seeing the formerly happy expressions on everyone's faces starting to turn sour again, Lucy tried to interfere.

"Actually I-"

'Tried' being the keyword here.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Luce isn't like the rest of you! She knows how important it is to be strong enough to beat the enemy! And of course she will help me! She is **my** partner!"

Erza promptly got into Natsu's face.

"Lucy also knows that fists aren't the only tools needed to solve a conflict and can appreciate the many ways an LCS offers to learn about different things!"

"Erza, I really don't-" But Lucy was interrupted again, this time by Gray.

"Oh come off it Erza, you just want to be able to order your precious cake whenever you want some!"

She tried again. "Gray, you don't mean-" Only to be cut off by Levy.

"This is such a typical 'Man-thing' to say. The only times you use your brains, it has something to do with food!"

Lucy was pushed farther behind the girls, but still trying to calm the flared tempers.

"Now, Levy, that's-"

But then Gajeel got involved as well.

"Like you are any better! You just want to read all day instead of improving your magic so that you might have a chance in the next S-Class competition without having to rely on me to save your ass!"

"At least I CAN read!"

"Are you calling us stupid?!"

"Why, I'm surprised you figured that out!"

And then Lucy could do nothing more than watch the drama unfold.

It happened just the way Lily and the others had described it to her. More and more guild members got involved in the argument while the accusations flying around got ever more ridiculous.

Lucy retreated farther back, away from the growing crowd so eagerly participating in the shouting match. When she reached the wall, Wendy, Romeo, Charle, Lily and Happy came over to her. The blue flying cat promptly settled himself on her shoulder.

"You see, Lucy? They either ignore each other or insult each other."

The celestial mage just nodded quietly, eyes wide as she took in the scene in front of her. Was it wrong of her that she would feel so much better if someone started throwing punches?

Wendy's soft voice cut into her thoughts.

"What should we do?"

And then they all stared at Lucy, somehow expecting her to have an answer to this problem. But the truth was, Lucy didn't have even the slightest clue. She had never been in the middle of such fights. Her parents had had a very happy marriage, she couldn't remember them arguing even once. And the fights she had witnessed, and on rare occasions been part of, since she entered Fairy Tail, had never been like this. Instead of words, punches used to fly around and those held no real malice behind them.

But this now,.. this was so out of her league it wasn't even funny.

She had no idea how to handle this.

"I… I don't know."

Seeing the despondent looks her respond caused, Lucy scrambled to reassure her friends **somehow**.

"But, uh, don't worry! Even though this looks bad right now, it will blow over soon."

The others looked at her skeptically and Romeo raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, this has already been going on for three days."

But Lucy quickly forced a wide grin and waved off his concerns.

"Sure I'm sure. I mean, you know these guys, they are just too enthusiastic about things. And since its already been a while, it can't be that much longer until they calm down and then everything will turn back to normal. You will see."

Happy, who by this time was desperate for any kind of hope that the insanity of the last few days would end, was all too eager to grab on to Lucy's words.

"Lucy is right. Natsu doesn't have the patience to hold a grudge for that long, or not go on any missions. And I'm sure the others aren't that different!"

Romeo and Wendy, who were similarly wanting to believe that things would return to normal soon, though still a bit unsure, slowly nodded. Charle and Lily were a little less accepting of the easy reassurance, but decided not to say anything at the moment.

As the shouting match behind them grew more intense, Lucy quickly tried to divert their attention somewhere else. A glance at the overflowing mission board gave her the right idea.

"Speaking of missions, if no one has done any in the last days, maybe we should do some ourselves. You know, it will be fun. The six of us have never worked together like this!"

It did sound good. Romeo especially had been itching to go on missions and train his abilities more. As he and Wendy were still too young to go on missions alone, even though Wendy had participated in the GMG last year, they needed to be accompanied by someone more experienced and mature. So if Lucy took them along, that wouldn't be a problem.

Happy, Charle and Lily also brightened a little at the possibility of getting away from the guild and it's fighting members for a bit.

When Lucy saw that all were in agreement, she smiled for real this time and ushered them over to the mission board. Seeing the board up close, her eyes widened. There were even more flyers than she had first estimated.

Some missions were even pinned over others.

She had never known how many missions Fairy Tail really took on. Of course, there had always been some on the board, and ever since their win at the GMG last year, requests for their help came in everyday. But for this many to have accumulated in only three days… She looked at her companions.

"Maybe we should take several. Who knows how long these people have been waiting for their request to be answered. We need to pick those that seem urgent, but that we will still be able to handle. Ok?"

The others nodded and started sorting through the many flyers on the board. Soon enough, each one of them had picked a mission they believed needed their attention, but was well within their abilities to accomplish.

They all handed their flyers to Lucy, who carefully looked all six over, nodding.

"Those look good. They are all pretty close to each other, so traveling shouldn't take up too much time. I'll go see if I can get Mira or Master away from arguing with each other long enough for one of them to approve these. Wait here."

With that Lucy ran right between the two groups. She reached Mira first, and after about four attempts, got the takeover mage to turn to her.

"Hey Mira, can you approve these missions for me. Romeo, Wendy, Lily, Charle, Happy and I want to try working together for a bit. And it would be good to free up some space on the mission board."

She had said it rather loudly, in part to be heard over the still going shouting match, and in the hopes that reminding everyone about the unanswered requests that were piling up, would make them shift their attention to something other than fighting. Sadly, it didn't work this way.

With a glint in her eyes, Mirajane raised her own voice, while quickly approving Lucy's mission papers.

"Of course Lucy! You, Wendy and Charle should be *more* than enough to do this. After all, since girls aren't as obsessed with their stupid strength, they can finish missions way faster and with less collateral damage than guys!"

"Ehm, but Romeo, Happy and Lily are coming too."

But the barmaid paid no heed to Lucy's input, as at the same time Laxus threw in his two cents.

"The only reason why girls finish their missions fast, is so they don't miss the latest sale to buy more shoes than they could ever wear in a lifetime! At least we guys know to focus on the battle at hand, instead of daydreaming about shiny, girly things!"

Lucy was already retreating from between the groups, having an idea where this was going. Right on cue, Evergreen angrily exclaimed,

"And that would be the reason why you guys don't own a decent pair of pants!"

And it was on again.

Lucy sighed. She really hoped things would calm down soon. Right now this didn't feel like the home and family she had come to love so much. She was also a little disappointed that Natsu hadn't reacted to her saying that she was going on some missions. He had been on her case for hours when she declined taking him along to meet with that Bank manager, and now he just let her go like that? She cast a quick look in his direction and saw him in a staring contest with Cana.

Shaking her head, she made her way to her temporary team, smiling reassuringly at them.

"Alright guys. We have official clearance. Everyone go home and pack your bags, if we do all those missions one after another, we should be gone for about 8 to 10 days, if everything goes smoothly. We will meet at the train station in one hour."

Everyone nodded and headed to their homes. Lucy just prayed she was right and by the time they all got back, Fairy Tail was 'home' again.


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, I still haven't figured out formatting.

Chapter 3

Their first mission took the six mages and exceeds to the quaint, little town of Pollus, just a forty-five minute train ride from Magnolia away.

Though this one wasn't the closest mission, it was the one that worried Lucy the most.

Not much information had been given, the flyer only stated that a young child had gone missing in Brightwood forest and that due to the monsters inhabiting said forest, only mages of official guilds were permitted to enter. Any additional information would be given by the clients, the childs parents.

Although this mission request had to have been the newest on the board, having arrived roughly the same time Lucy got back into Magnolia, all six of them knew it had to take priority over the others.

They stuffed their bags in some of the lockers at the train station in Pollus and made haste to the clients home. Looking around a little on their way there, Lucy wondered about the high walls she would glimpse occasionally.

Shortly after, they arrived.

"This must be the house." Lucy stepped forward and knocked on the door.

It didn't take long before a middle-aged, frantic looking man opened the door. His wide eyes immediately settled on Lucy.

"Please tell me you are the Fairy Tail wizards!"

In answer, everyone nodded and showed their guild mark. The man let out a huge, relieved sigh and promptly opened the door wider, stepping aside.

"Please come in. The sooner my wife and I can fill you in on anything, the sooner you can go save our little Nana."

He ushered them in quickly and guided them into the living room, where they found a woman softly sobbing on the couch. The man went to her.

"Esme, the mages are here."

The woman looked up, some hope shining in her tear filled eyes. As she surveyed the group of two kids, three cats and one young woman, though, she began to shake slightly.

"Are... are there any others coming? Please, I mean no disrespect, but you aren't what I expected and... our daughter..." She broke off, unable to speak anymore under a new onslaught of tears.

Neither Lucy nor the others took offense to the womans words. She was a mother in fear of loosing her child, her reaction to them was in fact rather calm.

Lucy stepped forward. "I understand your concerns, but don't worry, I assure you, we are all qualified to handle this. Now, please tell us what happened."

Esme seemed oddly reassured at Lucy's words and gestured for them to sit down on the large couch opposite her, while her husband sat beside her and placed his arm around her shoulders, squeezing lightly, before he addressed the group.

"My name is Malak, Malak Truso. This is my wife, Esme, please forgive her if she offended you, we are both beside ourselves with worry over Nana."

Lucy lifted her hand and quickly shook her head. "Please don't apologize, no harm was done and we all understand."

Malak nodded gratefully. "Our daughters name is Nana, she is only five years old. This morning she was playing with one of the kids in the neighbourhood close to the wall."

That reminded Lucy of what she had seen earlier and she quickly cut in. "The wall? I have seen some of that around town. Can you tell me what exactly this wall is?"

At first the two parents looked wide-eyed at the mages before them, but then Malak understood. "Right, you aren't from here. You see, Brightwood is a very gib and monster infested forest right next to our village. In the past, Pollus was famous for being attacked by the monsters at irregular intervals. But since not all monsters in the forest are ill-intentioned towards humans and some of the rare flora depends on the various monsters for flourishing, the magic council decided against extinguishing them. They did, however, erect a wall with powerful magic seals around the forest, so that this town and others would be save from attacks.

The magic seals prevent the monsters from coming too close to the wall and the only entrance into the forest is heavily guarded. Only mages who have the mark of an official guild can pass."

Lily lightly scratched his chin. "Then how did your daughter get into the forest?"

"Right. As I was saying before, Nana was playing with another child, Jake, a neighbours boy around her age. They were out in the fields and came across a hole in the protective wall. Nana has always been far too curious. She crawled through the hole to the other side, into the forest. Jake tried to call her back, but when she didn't reappear after a few minutes, Jake ran back here and told us what happened. He brought us to the hole, but it was too small for either me or my wife to fit through. I explained everything to the guards, begging them to let me go and get my daughter back, but they denied me passage. All they did was patch up the hole and tell me to immediately sent a request to the nearest magic guild."

Malak stopped, unable to hold back his own tears of frustration and helplessness anymore. Lucy's heart went out to him and his wife, she couldn't imagine what those two must be going through right now.

"How long ago was this?"

It was Esme who answered first. "It's been nearly five hours now."

Hearing that, Lucy stole a quick glance at Lily, who had the same dark look on his face that she herself was wearing. The black exceed was the oldest and most experienced in their group and just like Lucy, he knew that this kind of time frame wasn't good. If they wanted even the chance of finding the little girl alive, they needed to go **now**.

The celestial mage quickly stood. "Then we can't waste anymore time. Romeo, Wendy, everyone, are you ready to go?"

The others stood as well, just as eager to get to the forest as her. The Trusos looked at Lucy, their eyes pleading.

"Please bring her back to us."

It was hard, but Lucy knew she couldn't make any promises regarding their daughters well being. She could be dead already. Still, she forced a small smile.

"We will try our best."

* * *

It had taken them mere minutes to get into the forest, and for that, Lucy was grateful. But now the group found themselves faced with a very different problem.

The forest was huge, no one had been able to provide them with a map and without knowing what kind of monster might lie in wake behind the next corner, splitting up was too dangerous.

Thankfully though, if there was one thing that Lucy was known for, it was her agile mind and ability to think with foresight.

She stuck a hand in her skirt pocket and got out a little, stuffed animal.

"Wendy, I asked Esme for something of Nana's that she handled often. This is her favourite toy. Can you get her scent off it?"

Wendy took the stuffed dog, quickly sniffing it. "Yes, her scent is strong on this. My nose is not as good as Natsu's, but if we get close enough, I should be able to pinpoint the direction she is in."

Lucy nodded. "Good. Happy, Lily, Charle, I want you three to take to the sky. High enough so that you get a good overview of the surrounding area, but not too high that you lose sight of us. I need you to scan the perimeter for nearby monsters and guide us around them if necessary. Any fight now would delay us from finding the girl. Of course, if you can spot her from up there, that would be great, too."

The three exceeds nodded, already sprouting their wings and lightly hovering over the ground. Then Lucy turned to Romeo.

"Have you been able to familiarize yourself with the staff weapon I brought for you?"

Romeo took the stick-sized staff from his belt and looked at it. After pouring some magic into it, it grew about six times it's size and stood a little taller than the 13 year old.

"I read through the manual you gave me during the train ride here and I understand the theory behind it. I can channel my magic through it and amplify it slightly, or concentrate it on a certain point, which makes controlling my fire easier. Though I haven't been able to really practice it yet, I should be able to fight with it."

"Very good." Then Lucy took out one of her silver keys and summoned Pyxis. The compass spirit stood at attention, ready for her every order.

"Pyxis, can you set this place here as your base for now, please?"

The spirit nodded, eager to please, and vanished in the next moment.

"What was that for, Lucy?" Happy asked.

"With this, Pyxis will be able to guide us back to the village from wherever we are. It wouldn't do to find Nana, only to get lost in this huge forest."

Charle looked at her approvingly. "Good thinking."

"Let's go."

With every minute that passed without any trace of the girl, the group grew more anxious. The longer it took them to find her, the smaller Nana's chances of survival became. If she wasn't already… No. Lucy vigorously shook her head. They would find the girl and bring her home. She wasn't yet at the point where she could, of would, consider any other alternative.

But still, Lucy's controlled exterior was starting to come undone.

Had she made the right decisions? What if they had started out in the wrong direction? Maybe it would have been better to split up for the search, but right now Lucy was not only responsible for carrying out the mission, but also for Wendy and Romeo. She couldn't sent them out alone, or even together, when they couldn't be sure of their possible opponents strength.

For all they knew, there could be an S-Class monster in this forest. Granted, if there really was, they probably wouldn't stand much of a chance even if they were all together, but it was still better than anyone of them facing such a beast alone.

Still the little voices of doubt wouldn't leave the blonde. Could she have done anything else in preparation? Was she forgetting something? Would Erza have handled things differently?

"I think I can smell her!"

At this, all eyes turned to Wendy and Lucy forgot her doubts for the moment.

"Are you sure Wendy?"

The sky dragon slayer inhaled deeply, but her expression was troubled.

"I can definitely smell her, but... I can't pinpoint the direction. The winds are blowing differently here and there are so many other scents mixing together! I'm… I'm so sorry! If only I were as good as Natsu or Gajeel!"

And that was when Lucy understood that she wasn't the only one plagued by doubt. Just as she had never been the leader, Wendy had never been the one with the sharpest senses when it counted. They had always had someone to rely on before. But this time they were on their own and had to pull this off alone.

And they would!

This was no time for doubt.

They had to do this, for Nana, and for themselves!

Determined, Lucy walked over the blue haired girl and kneeled down to her eye level, her hands on the sky maiden's shoulders.

"You are just as much a dragon slayer as Natsu and Gajeel are, Wendy. And you are a mage of Fairy Tail. You can do this!"

The girl still looked troubled though. "But what if I get it wrong?"

Lucy looked deep into her eyes. "You won't. Close your eyes. Concentrate. We all trust you."

Looking right back into the serious, brown eyes, Wendy knew that her friend wasn't just saying this. Lucy truly believed that Wendy could do this. She looked at the others and saw the same in their eyes as she did in Lucy's. Feeling humbled and empowered by her friends trust in her, Wendy did as Lucy had said. Closed her eyes, concentrated and took a deep breath.

"West. We need to go west. It isn't too far, but we have to hurry, there was another smell close by and I think it's a monster!"

Lucy smiled proudly at her and squeezed her shoulders before standing up.

"You heard her, we need to hurry. Charle, Happy, Lily, do you think you can fly us there?" The three nodded, already grabbing them at the back of their clothes and taking off.

"Wendy, lead the way!"

* * *

Once again I would like to thank everyone who reads this story for the continued support.

A friend recently asked why the chapters for this story are so short (I'm used to write far longer chapters with at least 5000 words each)

This has two reasons.

First, I'm still not as accustomed to writing in english as I would like to be, and so writing shorter chapters at a time is easier for me.

Second, in one of my previous, longer, stories one reader contacted me via PM and politely asked me if I could maybe shorten my chapters a little, as she suffered from a slight form of dyslexia and had trouble reading long pieces at once.

So I decided that shorter chapters would be easier for me to write and easier for some to read. It also enables me to update faster.

Just in case any of you ever wondered about that. I myself am more of a fan of long chapters.

A special shout out to xXJuuLXx, who asked for some RoWen. I couldn't fit it into this chapter, but I promise I will pack some into the next one. I hope you still liked this chapter though. :-)

LuckyLifeSmile: You had some very interesting ideas, but the story will play out a little differently. I do hope you enjoy it non the less. And you are right about that NaLu moment, although it was rather short. But it was important for me that Natsu, as the others, is still himself and shows that he is happy to have his partner back. Still though, he is just as swept up in all the fighting as the others are. Thank you very much for your more detailed review. I always enjoy reading the longer ones. :-)

ZeldaWithAShotgun: Thank you for reviewing both chapters, even though both had been up already when you read them and many (myself included – I'm such a bad reviewer) would have been content with writing a review for the latest chapter. (I also loved your Jumanji reference :-) )

Raydark182: I'm a romantic at heart, so I can't really write a story without any romance, so don't worry. It's just that this story doesn't overly focus on it, but it will be there. :-)

Constantlyklutzy: The story might turn out to be a little bit longer than I told you first. I hope that's to your liking. :-)


	4. Chapter 4

I don't even know how I did it, but this time the format of the chapter seems even more screwed up than usual. Sorry.

Thanks everyone for reading, reviewing, following and favoring.

Chapter 4

Nana was scared.

She had been in the forest for, what felt to her like, forever!

It had been such fun in the beginning, crawling through that hole, discovering something new. Of course, Jake, the little scaredy-cat, had been too afraid to follow after her. Instead he had been yelling like crazy for her to come back and that her parents would be angry.

Nana didn't want her parents to be angry with her, because then they would lecture her and ground her and that was just *no* fun.

But when she saw the many huge trees that made the forest before her, she had just been so **curious**.

Usually no one was allowed into the forest, but there she was, about to enter it, like some fearless adventurer. It had been so exciting.

Now, however, little Nana wished she hadn't gone in.

She had only planned to enter **a bit** of the forest. Just a little, just to see what it looks like. And then she had seen this really pretty butterfly. It had colors she had never seen before. And she had wanted to get a better look, so she had stepped closer. But that had spooked the butterfly and it flew away. Refusing to give up so easily, Nana had run after it, deeper into the forest.

When she lost sight of it after a few minutes, she realized that she didn't really know where she came from and in which direction her home was. That was the first time she had started to get a little scared. Just a little, mind you. She could still be that fearless adventurer, she just had to find the way back to the wall and the hole in it. It shouldn't be that hard, the wall around the forest was huge after all.

So Nana had set out to find the way back again, but only got herself even more lost. It may have just been her young imagination, but it seemed the longer she was in this forest, the bigger and darker it became.

And the creepy noises got louder as well. At times, it was like some huge beast roared somewhere in the distance. She had even hid behind a fallen, slightly rotten, tree when she thought she heard something coming her way.

That had been some time ago, but the little dark haired girl still sat behind that same rotten tree, clutching her legs to her chest and silently praying that her mommy and daddy would come get her soon.

She had enough of being a fearless adventurer, she just wanted to go home. She didn't even mind if she got lectured or grounded. Nana just wanted out of the big, dark, scary, evil forest!

Then she heard that roar again - or was it a different one? - but this time it was much closer. And so loud.

She pressed her hands against her ears, her whole body shaking. She was so scared. The sudden cracking and rustling of trees and branches forced her to look to her right.

Her wide eyes filled with fearful tears. There stood a huge monster, as big as a house and with scary yellow eyes and sharp teeth and many long arms and legs. And it was looking right at her.

_/I'm so scared. I'm so scared! Mommy, Daddy help me! I'm so sorry I will never do something bad again! Please help me!/_

Then the monster reached one of its tentacle like arms out to her while opening its fang-filled mouth. And just as it was about to snatch the little girl, Nana heard a voice call out.

"Horologium!"

The next thing she knew, she wasn't in front of the scary monster that was about to eat her anymore, but looking at it from a safe distance, through a glass shield before her. As she looked around a little, she realized she sat in some kind of box.

Out of nowhere, a friendly voice spoke to her.

"Do not worry. I will keep you safe while my master and her friends take care of the monster."

Though Nana didn't quite understand what was going on, she decided to trust the voice and looked back at the scene before her through the glass of the odd, talking box she was in.

* * *

Lucy let out a sigh of relief as she stole a quick look at her clock spirit and the little girl safely inside him, as Happy set her down on the ground a few feet away from the monstrous kraken.

This had been close. Had they arrived even a second later... She shook her head. Now was not the time.

Charle and Lily came down next to her, setting Wendy and Romeo down as well. Lily changed into his battle form right away, while Romeo got out his staff and enlarged it with his magic. The kraken was visibly displeased that its easy meal had been taken away. It let out a terrifying roar and attacked the group with its tentacles.

But the Fairy Tail wizards were ready.

Lucy held out one of her golden keys. "Taurus!"

The bull spirit charged forward without hesitation. "I will protect my master's wonderful body!"

The big axe sliced through the three thick tentacles that had been heading straight for Lucy. She cheered. "Good job, Taurus!"

Romeo stepped to the side to avoid an otherwise deadly strike and then quickly poured his flame into the large staff in his hand. The staff turned a light shade of flaming blue and Romeo rammed it into the tentacle, severing it instantly and burning the stump. The monster screamed in pain and sent more tentacles his way, but the young fire mage was quick on his feet and evaded each one, swinging his magic powered staff around and damaging ever more of the monsters many appendages.

However he was so focused on what went on in front of him, that he didn't notice the lone tentacle that had somehow wound its way around him and was now about to pierce right through his unprotected back.

But just as it was about to end the young mages life, Pantherlily appeared right behind Romeo and sliced the tentacle in two halves with his huge sword.

Romeo finally realized what was going on and smiled at the grown exceed. "Thanks Lily!"

The big cat grinned back. "Don't mention it."

Wendy had just shot down two of the monsters arms with her wind attack when Charle picked her up and flew her out of the way of another three, that the young girl had seen too late.

"Thank you Charle."

The female cat shook her head. "Don't thank me, concentrate on the enemy! There are too many tentacles to let your guard down!"

As if on cue, the duo was suddenly surrounded by six of them.

"Sky dragons roar!"

The attack blew the three appendages in front of her to little bits, but the other three in the back used the opportunity to grab the girl and her cat out of the sky.

Before she could even think to use her power for another attack, two of the tentacles wrapped around the sky maidens body and squeezed tightly, cutting off her air supply and about to crush her ribs.

"Wendy!"

Romeo's shout was followed by his staff driving into the tentacles, chopping them off from the kraken's body and freeing Wendy from their painful pressure. Before she could fall to the ground though, she was safely caught in the arms of a flying Pantherlily, who looked at her with concern.

"Are you okay Wendy?"

The girl nodded and quickly looked around.

"I'm fine, but Charle-" In that moment two arrows flew past them and right into the tentacle that had been holding the white exceed in its grip. Charle fell through the loosened hold and was caught by Happy, who quickly flew them both out of the monsters reach for her to get her composure back and activate her magic again.

Lucy thanked Sagittarius and sent him back to the spirit world, before she ran up to the others.

"Is anyone hurt? Wendy, you okay?"

The girl nodded just as the other two exceeds rejoined the group. "Charle, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thanks to Lucy and Happy."

The blue cat was beyond happy right then, as this was one of the very few times that Charle had called him by his name instead of 'male cat'. The monster meanwhile had been trying to recover from the pain and loss of this many appendages, drawing back from the mages a little.

Lucy used the short reprieve to think of a battle plan.

"Alright, we are going to finish this thing off now." She took out two golden keys. "Loki! Capricorn!"

The two spirits appeared before her with their usual flair, the goat spirit bowing slightly, while the lion winked flirtatiously at her.

"It's my pleasure to assist you, Lady Lucy."

"I have missed you my love. You need to call me more often."

Then the celestial mage turned to the others. "We need to strike the body of this thing. Loki, Wendy and Romeo can do that without getting too close. Capricorn and Lily, we need you to take care of any of these tentacles the kraken will attack us with. Happy and Charle, be ready to get anyone out of danger if one of the tentacles gets past the two. I won't be much help during this, keeping three gates open is already pulling at my reserves."

Hearing that, and seeing the strain in his masters eyes, Loki suddenly vanished and reappeared the next moment.

"I opened my gate with my own magic, that should make it a little easier on you, but you should still keep out of the fight. Capricorn and Horologium need your energy."

The blonde nodded gratefully at her loyal spirit, feeling a little better now that one of the gates was closed. "Everyone ready?"

They nodded.

The monster behind them hollered loudly, enraged now it started its final attack against the group responsible for not only a lost meal, but also the loss of many of its arms.

Capricorn and Lily sprang into action, fighting off any and all tentacles coming the groups way.

Romeo stabbed the staff into the ground before him, holding onto it with both hands as his magic flowed into and through it, the energy nearly doubling and concentrating on the very tip.

The air around Wendy began swirling around her, as the girl gathered her magic for her attack.

Loki's fist glowed brighter and brighter as he asked Regulus to grant him his power.

Happy and Charle flew a little above, keeping a watchful eye on the group.

They fired their attacks as one,

"Sky dragons roar!"

"Flamethrower!"

"Regulus fist!"

and just like that, the fight was over, the kraken destroyed.

As the dust of the battle settled, there weren't even any remains of the previous huge body, just some of the tentacles the group had cut off before served as evidence that there had been a fearsome beast before.

Lucy smiled brightly. "That was great guys! You were amazing!"

Romeo grinned, twirling his staff. "We totally kicked that monsters butt! Just like Natsu and the others would have!"

Capricorn once again bowed to Lucy. "Now that the danger is apprehended, I will return to the spirit world to not cause you any further drain on your magic." Lucy nodded. "Thanks Capricorn, you were a great help!"

Loki stepped up to her as well. "I will be taking my leave, too, my princess, but do not hesitate to call out to me. I can come out on my own power if you are too tired."

"Thank you Loki. Say hi to everyone from me."

Charle, Happy and Lily, who was back to his smaller form once more, landed beside Lucy. The black exceed regarded her with respect.

"That was some fine leadership, Lucy. You are quite good with developing a strategy and keeping a cool head in battle."

Lucy blushed slightly from the compliment. "Thanks, but I guess it kinda comes with being a celestial wizard. I need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of all my spirits in every battle, so I'm used to planning ahead."

Happy snickered a little. "Yes, Lucy is completely opposite from Natsu in this. He just runs right in and burns everyone to a crisp. But that's okay, he is a lot stronger than Lucy after all." He teased the blonde.

Lucy scowled slightly and crossed her arms. "Well, sorry for not being such a powerhouse like Natsu. At least I don't damage anything that we have to pay for later."

Lily nodded, interrupting the friendly teasing between the two. "It was impressive non the less."

Wendy had come to stand beside Romeo and was fidgeting a little. "I.. I wanted to say thank you. You know, for saving me before from that tentacle and... ehm." A light red tint came over her cheeks as she looked into the boys eyes.

His face colored just as quickly. "N-n-no problem, Wendy. I'll always protect you! I mean not like I think you need protecting, you aren't weak or anything. You know, just like Lucy isn't weak, but Natsu still protects her because she is special to him and you are s-special to m-m-m-me..." By this time the poor boy was dangerously close to fainting from all the blood shooting in his face.

Of course, Wendy wasn't far behind in that regard as she stuttered out a reply. "I-I-I-I... ehm... T-th-thank you. You are very special, too. I mean... to me... too..."

While the two youngest on the team tried to fight off their embarrassment, Lucy had made her way to Horologium who still held the little girl safely inside him.

"Is she okay?"

"Do not worry, the girl is alright. She was not hurt."

"Thank you for everything Horologium. You can go now."

"Always glad to be of service, miss Lucy. Then I will go."

After a sudden *poof* and some smoke, the clock spirit was back in the spirit world and little Nana sat on the grass before Lucy, owlishly looking up at the blond. Lucy smiled at the girl reassuringly.

"You are Nana, right? My name is Lucy. My friends and I have been asked by your parents to come and get you out of this forest. Are you ready to go home now?"

At first the little girl didn't react at all and just kept staring at the celestial mage like she was some kind of ghost. But just as Lucy was about to suspect that something was wrong with the girl, Nana threw herself into her arms, crying.

"It was so scary and I wanna go home and thank you for saving me from the big monster and I will never ever ever go into the forest again I swear!"

Once she was over the initial shock of the girl's sudden action, Lucy placed her arms around Nana and softly stroked her hair.

"Shh, it's alright now. You are safe. I promise."

* * *

It had taken them an hour to get out of the forest. With Pyxis help, they found the way back easy enough, but the group had to take several detours to not run into any more of the forest's inhabitants. Nana refused to let go of Lucy, forcing the blonde to carry the little girl the whole way. She didn't mind though, knowing that even though Nana had calmed down, she was still rather spooked from her encounter with the kraken.

Romeo and Wendy were walking side by side, occasionally stealing glances at each other only to blush like crazy ever time they did.

The exceeds were flying above, like before, to scan the area for nearby monsters.

When they finally made it back to the clients' house, they witnessed a very tearful reunion between the parents and their daughter. The happy parents offered the group their guest room for the night and the exhausted wizards gladly accepted. Lucy especially looked forward to some sleep after all the magic and energy she had spent during the last two hours.

Romeo all but collapsed on the large couch in the guest room, while Lucy and Wendy shared the queen sized bed. The three exceeds made themselves comfortable on the various cushioned chairs.

Just before she fell asleep, a thought crossed Lucy's mind. _/I wonder if they are still fighting./_

* * *

GoldenRoseTanya: Thank you very much for your kind words. Getting the characters true forms is indeed rather difficult and I was hoping that I did a decent job. To hear that I succeeded really means a lot.

LuckyLifeSmile: Like I said, I love the longer reviews, as they usually give me something to go on. I always try to write something that hasn't been done to exhaustion, or try to give a common plot a unique twist. I fear that otherwise, the readers will get bored very soon. So I'm glad that you are enjoying the fanfic so far and hope you will continue to do so.

xXJuulXx: How did you like that little RoWen moment there? :-)

CodyMurphy: As you can see, I couldn't use your idea as I had planned the chapter out quite differently, but I want to thank you anyway for your input. I really like to hear the readers thoughts and expectations as those open up possibilities and ways to turn out that I may not have considered. I hope you continue sharing your ideas and opinions with me. Who knows, maybe some would even give me inspiration for new stories.

ZeldaWithAShotgun: Thank you again for your kind review. I'm glad you see it as a good thing that I shortened my chapters for the afore-mentioned reasons, as some (they shall remain nameless) people have made their displeasure about this quite obvious to me. I got emails (on another account) telling me not to bother with people who can't keep up and are 'probably faking anyway and are just lazy'. And those were the nice ones. So after that, your review was more than welcome.

PandaGirl: Yes, I have wanted to see Lucy in a role with more responsibility (without making her ridiculously powerful) for awhile. I think it suits her, as she uses her mind more than her muscles. And I thought this would be the best possible way for her to take the reigns.

Skyda: Thank you very very very much for your comment. It made my day when I read it. I'm also a big fan of 'things making sense', so I try to explain as much as possible in a fanfic, without giving too much detail that would make reading an arduous task. And thank you for complimenting my English I still stumble sometimes, but I like to believe that I'm starting to get the hang on the language.

Now, some of you might have noticed that I had Lucy just yell out the names of the spirits she summoned, instead of the usual: "Gate of the _, I open thee _" thing. That's mostly because I'm lazy and didn't want to write all that every time. On the other hand it is also because I think that since its been over a year since the GMG in this fic and Lucy has matured a little in her magic, it is reasonable to think that she developed a way that allows her to summon her spirits faster. Which can be a crucial detail in battles.

I don't think its a big deal anyway, I just mention it in case any of you got confused.

I'm planning to bring the Guild back in the next chapter, but if you liked reading about the team work of Lucy and the others, I could try to flesh out the others missions a little more, instead of just wrapping them up in a short flashback like telling. Just tell me what you think.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The scenery flew by as Lucy looked out the train's window of their little compartment. Across from her sat Romeo and Wendy, fast asleep. She had to smile though, as she saw the position the two were in. Wendy's head rested on Romeo's shoulder, with his on top of hers. Those two really were too cute!

She regretted not bringing a camera. If she could show a picture of their current position to Mirajane, the take-over mage would happily and enthusiastically pour all her effort and energy into nurturing their growing relationship. And then she wouldn't have any time to meddle in Lucy's love life!

The blonde supressed a giggle, not wanting to wake up Happy, who had made himself comfortable in her lap to sleep. Beside her sat Lily and Charle, napping as well.

The last eight days had been exhausting. Their first mission in Pollus had surprisingly turned out to be the easiest, despite them having had to fight that huge kraken monster.

In Auria they had needed to find and apprehend a group of bandits that had thus far eluded the guards. Thankfully the bandits hadn't had any wizards in their ranks, but there had been many of them, making the fight quite difficult.

The mayor of Cuncoon had asked them to deliver a package to the next town, the contents of which were needed to find under ground water lines. Apparently the neighbour town, Annan, had suffered through a long lasting dry spell this year and needed to find more resources of clean water for not only themselves, but also their fields.

Unfortunately the only road connecting the two towns was not only seven kilometers long, but also a notorious hunting ground for the local low lifes. After the first three kilometers they had already lost count of how many times they had gotten attacked.

The next two missions had been similarly draining, but the last one had been the most difficult. A fact that still surprised Lucy as the initial reason she had picked that particular mission for last was because it had sounded like the easiest.

A group of kids in the city of Droul had gotten hold of a magic artefact that many years ago, had been used to seal an ancient demon's power away. The kids, thankfully, hadn't broken the seal, but they had taken the artefact out of the temple and away from it's protective barrier.

Apparently the temple's barrier was supposed to keep out any magical being and persons with nefarious intentions. The kids that had taken the artefact, which was in the form of a bronze medallion, however had neither been magically talented, nor ill-intentioned. They just thought it looked pretty and wanted to use it in their treasure hunt game. So the barrier had let them pass unhindered and as it was only supposed to 'guard' the artefact, but not to 'keep' it within the temple's walls, it also didn't stop the kids from taking the amulet out of it.

And that was where things got complicated.

Because the artefact itself was full of evil magic and therefore, once on the other side, couldn't pass through the barrier anymore and back under its protection.

So the groups mission had been to take the barrier down, return the artefact and get the barrier back up again.

Nothing too hard about that. Lucy knew a little about barrier magic and had been certain that, although it might take quite a bit of her magic to take it down, it shouldn't be too hard. And because this had been the one mission that didn't involve fighting anyone and therefore didn't pose as much danger, if any, as the others before had, non of them had taken any time to rest and recuperate from their previous mission. Instead they tackled their task as soon as they had been briefed by the town's priest and gotten the amulet. They had been so sure that this one, although important, mission, would be easy as pie.

And at first everything went as it should. Lucy had studied the original incantation for about two hours and found a way to take it down temporarily. As it was a very old and very powerful barrier, completely dissolving it wasn't possible. At least not for anyone but maybe a guildmaster or someone like Gildarts. But it could be 'interrupted'. The spell required for that had a drawback though. Not only was it a rather complicated spell, that drained nearly half of the caster's power, but once in effect, the spell could not be ended until it's objective was achieved. Also, as long as the spell was active, all the caster's magic and concentration went solely to keeping it up.

Which basically meant that as soon as Lucy used the spell, she wouldn't be able to so much as move from her spot until the artefact was safely back in it's place.

The group had discussed this, of course, but no one had seen a problem with this. It was the only spell they had been able to find and it wasn't like any of them would be in danger. Lucy would hold down the barrier, someone would bring the amulet into the temple and then the spell would end. It wouldn't even take more than a few minutes. And the sooner they got this done, the sooner they could get some real rest.

They never expected the four dark mages to show up at the exact moment Lucy had used the spell. Not only had those four had impeccable timing for demanding to be handed the amulet, they had also positioned themselves right between the Fairy Tail wizards and the temple. With the spell already in effect, Lucy was unable to do anything to help Romeo, Wendy and Lily as they engaged the enemy mages. Fortunately Loki had kept 'a feel' out for his master and opened his own gate when he felt her distress, to support the group and protect Lucy.

But things got dangerous quickly, especially for the blonde.

The spell had left her completely defenseless and the four dark wizards were quick to catch up on that. Realizing the young woman was the groups weak point, they started attacking her, forcing her friends into defending and protecting her, without being able to strike back.

For a while, it had looked bad.

Loki had been badly wounded and only his knowledge that Lucy wouldn't be able to call on another spirit for protection kept him from returning to his world to heal.

Romeo had sprained his ankle when avoiding a direct hit, which severely slowed him down.

Wendy was a dragons roar away from collapsing, not having fully recovered from their previous mission, where she had overused her magic power against a group of roughly fifty bandits.

Lily was bleeding from wounds on his arm and upper leg and the magic that fueled his battle form was near its end.

Lucy remembered the feeling of deep and utter helplessness she had felt. It had been so frustrating, witnessing her friends getting hurt while she was rooted to the spot. Never had a battle left her feeling so devastated.

But just when the blonde was about to lose hope, Happy had managed to use the heat of battle to slip past everyone undetected and place the artefact back in the temple.

As soon as it touched the little pedestal it was supposed to rest on, a surge of power streamed from it, flinging the flying cat away and out of the temple, and the barrier built back up.

As that happened, a rush of magical energy hit Lucy quite unexpectedly.

Apparently all the magic she had spent on taking down the barrier before was at once restored to her.

Finally being able to do something to help her friends, she first sent Loki back to the spirit world and then quickly summoned Gemini and Virgo. Gemini turned into their master while Virgo - in a matter of seconds - created tunnels underneath all of her masters injured companions and brought them to safety.

With everyone out of the line of fire, Lucy and Gemini combined their power and fired a great Urano Metria at the four enemy mages.

Those had been so stunned from the sudden turn in battle, that the powerful attack hit them full force.

With their opponents knocked unconscious, Lucy sent back Gemini and together with Virgo provided some first aid for Wendy, Romeo and Lily. She had to firmly forbid Wendy from using her healing magic on the others. The girl had been ready to faint. But with Charle's backing and the guys insurance that they would be fine, the girl had relented.

Lily had turned back into his smaller form for Lucy to carry him and Charle kept near Wendy, ready to carry her charge should she need it.

Romeo stubbornly refused help, leaning on his still enlarged staff to walk, though Happy stayed near the teen, just in case.

His side long glances to the young sky maiden made Lucy suspect that he either didn't want to look weak in front of Wendy, or wanted to reassure her that she really didn't need to waste her energy on healing him. Or both.

Either way, it was very cute. And it kinda reminded her of Natsu.

And now here they were, in a train headed back for Magnolia, everyone but Lucy caught in the sleep of exhaustion. Not that the blonde wasn't tired as well. They had just done six missions in eight days, after all. The constant fighting and traveling between towns had left them with precious little rest in between.

In fact they should have probably stayed in Droul for the night and gone back to Magnolia tomorrow, instead of catching the late train.

But after the last eight days, all of them just wanted to be back home. And though her body dearly needed sleep to regain some of her energy, Lucy found herself unable to rest.

Every minute on the train brought them closer to Magnolia and the blonde was plagued with thoughts of a guilty conscience.

She had run away.

When she had returned from her trip and seen her guildmates, her family, in such discord, she had grabbed the other five not involved and run away.

Oh sure, she had camouflaged her escape with good reasons, such as trying to work with people outside of her usual team and taking on some of the more urgent missions. And thank god they had, Lucy shuddered to think what would have happened to little Nana if that particular mission request had been picked any later.

But in the end, all it really came down to was running away.

Because she hadn't known how to handle this situation and been deeply afraid of making it worse. Lucy nearly sneered at herself.

_/Running away isn't something a Fairy Tail wizard does! I have been in so many dangerous situations with Natsu and the others before. I have been scared many times and I didn't run away then. Why now? Why couldn't I face this like everything else?/_

Being afraid was okay, as long as one didn't let their fear rule them.

_/But I did just that, didn't I? But why? It was just an argument!/_

A difference in opinion between people she loved and respected dearly, but nothing more, right? Surely nothing to be afraid of. It was just a fight. Fairy Tail always fought. Granted, this one had been different than the usual bouts her friends got into, but it wasn't like anything really bad would have happened. In fact, Lucy was sure that everyone had long since calmed down and come to an agreement regarding the money days ago!

_/Yes, of course they did. This is Fairy Tail after all. Fairy Tail is family and no stupid fight could ever change that./_

Right. There hadn't been any real reason for her and the others to go away for eight days (except of course for the missions they had undertaken), the guys had probably made up only hours after Lucy and the others left the guild.

She could actually picture it.

They would have bickered a little more, throwing around stereotypical accusations about the other gender. Then Natsu would have gotten annoyed and lit his fists on fire. Gray, standing next to him, would have jumped back to not get burned, bumping into Gajeel, who would have been bent over a little so that he could have a glaring match with the much shorter Levy.

Losing his balance because of Gray, Gajeel would have fallen straight into Levy, who would have grabbed onto Cana next to her to keep upright.

Naturally, Cana would already have been three sheets to the wind by this point and not able to provide any kind of help, falling herself instead.

And just as coincidence would have it, any one of them would have smashed Erza's beloved strawberry cake during their fall. The enraged Titania would then have avenged her sweet treat, starting an all out brawl. And after everyone had beaten each other black and blue, the tension and anger of the previous argument would have been released, making the rowdy bunch relax and be normal again.

The celestial mage smiled. Surely it had gone something like this. The master had probably come up with some ridicules idea on how to decide on which of the two systems they would spend the reward money and said system was either already installed, or would be soon. And since everyone would have felt antsy after spending four days pretty much cooped up in the guild without any kind of activity, other than giving each other dirty looks, the mission board would by now be nearly empty.

Natsu would probably be angry with her and Happy for deserting him like this, so the first order of business when she got back was to apologize to him. She would even let him play Ninja all he wants on their next mission to make it up to him. And if that still wasn't enough, she would offer to let him sleep in her bed again... She blushed. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. She could invite him out to eat. With all the reward money they had gotten from their missions, Lucy had now quite a bit of spending money. Enough even to fill the bottom less pit also known as Natsu's stomach. Who would have thought that missions paid so well if one didn't destroy half of the town? Even divided by six, Lucy had made more money in the past eight days than she usually did with team Natsu in three weeks. She just might have to team up with other non-destructive people more often.

She smiled softly. No. She would miss Erza and Gray and especially Natsu too much. Maybe every once in a while, she could do a mission with Wendy and Romeo again, but she wouldn't give up her team for all the money in the world.

Without her noticing, her eyelids slowly fell closed and her breathing evened out to a soft rhythm, as finally, sleep got a hold on her. One last thought flitted through her mind, before she gave in to her body's demand for rest.

_/Okay, if Natsu is really angry, I will let him sleep in my bed./_

* * *

I hadn't planned to cut the chapter here already, but I fear that if I wrote any further, I would be violating my 'shorter chapters' rule.

I hope you aren't all too disappointed with the chapter. I know it seems a little boring, but I hope I got Lucy's feelings and expectations across. What do you think, is Lucy right or is it more denial/wishful thinking on her part?

Well, we will know next chapter, when the group finally returns to the guild.

On another note, this fic will soon be coming to a close (1 or 2 more chapters)

And as some of your reviews and PM's have shown me, the general plot could have gone a very different way. I realize that with this kind of story, there are many possibilities for it to develope apart from the one I wrote. Which is why if any of you have ideas for a 'what if' scenario, or if maybe the story inspired you to write a variation of it, or if you just liked the general idea but would have gone a completely different way with it, please feel free to use whatever you want from this fic.

I won't be going around screaming about plagiarism or something like this. In my opinion, the more stories there are, the more reading material for me.

So, what I'm really trying to say is, if you want to use this idea for your own story, do so. If you want to use one of the missions I had Lucy and the others go on for your own story, do so. If you want to copy and paste this story with some slight or major variations as your own story, please feel free to. The only thing I ask for is that you tell me, so that I can read it, because I'm always craving for more fanfictions to read.

Review corner

GoldenRoseTanya: I know what you mean. The good Mr. Mashima teases us so much with the *perfect* couples, but inside his twisted little mind is probably a diabolical plan to have us thirst for any kind of confirmation of those couples for eternity. Forcing us to turn to fanfiction, fanarts and doujinshi's to live our dreams and see our expectations come true. :-) Of course, that isn't necessarily bad.

LuckyLifeSmile: Sorry for not sticking to my guns here, as the group didn't get to the guild in this chapter. It kinda got away from me, I hadn't planned to make the train scene that lengthy. Oh well, I will try to update the next part faster than this one. And I completely agree, Romeo and Wendy really are very cute together. I'm kinda glad that they got frozen in time for seven years, otherwise that pairing would be awkward.

Rockin' angels: Thanks, I couldn't really imagine the guys raising their hands against their female friends and I wanted to illustrate that this fight was different from what usually went down in the guild. Sometimes non-physical fights are far more severe than the ones with black eyes and bruises to show for. I hope I accomplished that.

Pandagirl: I actually don't like the fics where Lucy is too strong. I mean one of the reasons I like her is BECAUSE she isn't as strong as the others but still has a place among them, you know? Like this, Fairy Tail feels more like a real family, that loves and respects all their members, even those that don't win every fight. I mean, don't we all get a little weary of the continuous power-ups in other anime and manga like DragonballZ and One Piece and Naruto, where after some time it feels like they have reached god like proportions and can't even be touched anymore and that if they spar too hard they will decimate the area they are in? I actually hope that Lucy doesn't become that much stronger in the manga, though I may be the only one that thinks so.

allycat1979: I'm afraid I couldn't grant your wish for some glimpses of the groups teamwork, as most readers had wished for the group to return to the guild quickly. But maybe someone will get ideas for stories like this and work out a fanfic about it. :-) Thank you for the review.

Arrow of Artemis: Thank you very much for your kind words. I really hoped I wasn't botching this story up completely due to the language issue. Reading english and actually using the language myself are two very different things, as I have come to understand. But your words have given me new confidence, so thank you very very much!

And yes, I wanted to write Lucy in a way that gives her a more important part in the missions, without making her stronger than she has to be. And we all know she has quite the agile mind, so why not let her use it, right?

Dunyahu: First, thank you for all your reviews, I saw you even commented on the previous ones though you didn't have to, so thanks very much. And just so you know, it's your fault that I'm blushing now. I always thought that my need for everything to make sense and overly explaining things and over thinking every avenue of the damn fic made it to be more of a tedious read. To hear that you appreciate all of my 'because's and 'why's really gives me hope that maybe I'm not that bad of a writer (even if this chapter here probably is pretty boring compared to the others...) Again, thank you sooo much!

RoseRain7: Thank you for your lengthy review! I LOVE the long one's. And you even used quotes and commented on those directly, I love that too. :-)

And yes, you are right, it's very understandable why master makarov wanted the DP system installed. Really, those guys can be a headache when let loose. I hope I haven't disappointed you yet, even though this chapter wasn't that exciting. I will try to make up for it in the next one.

cody murphy: So sorry for once again not being able to use your idea, but the guys haven't made it back to the guild yet. I must admit though, I don't really get the 'parking lot' reference. What does a parking lot have to do with a massacre? Is this some kind of saying? and idiom perhaps? I'm not very well versed when it comes to figures of speeches. But thank you very much for your comment. Always a pleasure to read.

AznMelody5678: Sadly we didn't get to the Fairy Tail part yet, but I promise the guys will make it back in the next chapter. I hope you can reign in your curiosity until then. Thanks for the review. :-)

finnythewise: They are kinda the neglected members of Fairy Tail when it comes to fighting, aren't they?I'm glad you enjoyed this so far and hope you will continue to like the fic. Thank you for the review.

DeathGoddesses: We will find out next chapter, promise. Hope you liked this chapter anyway, even though nothing really happened here. Thank you for your review.

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, to be honest I'm writing this while at work... don't tell my boss. :-)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Here you go, Miss Lucy!" The six year old, brown haired little boy said smiling, as he placed the cup of steaming herbal tea on the table before the blonde.

Lucy smiled back. "Thank you, Kenta."

The boy grinned a bit wider and then turned around to rejoin the other children outside to play. Deciding to let the tea cool down a bit, Lucy turned her attention to the older woman across from her.

"So how many children are living here at the moment, Inga?"

Inga was a slightly short, slim woman in her mid-forties with black hair that was starting to grey. She had her own cup of hot tea before her and wound her hands around it.

"Well, we have two infants, twins, you know? Sara and Amelie. And then Tobias and Mara, who are both four. Yandra, Michelle and Marc, the girls are ten years old and Marc is eight. Our oldest, Jacob, is thirteen. He is at the market right now, but maybe you can meet him later. And of course young Kenta, who is six. So all in all, there are eleven kids right now."

Lucy's head spun a little. That was quite a lot of kids for one lone woman to care for. She glanced out of the window beside her to the group of eight children who were playing a game of catch together with Wendy, Romeo and the three exceeds.

When their train had broke down only a few miles away from Magnolia, the group had decided to walk the rest of the way, rather than to wait for the maintenance crew to arrive at the scene and fix up the train.

Halfway there, they had spotted a big, but visibly old house in the woods. What really drew their attention to it though were the panicked voices they heard coming from its direction.

One of the girls, Yandra as Lucy now knew, had climbed one of the tall trees all around the house on a dare from her friend. But the child, for all her bravado, hadn't known how to identify the sturdy branches from those that might crack under her weight, and when she had been about ten meters off the ground, she grabbed a too thin branch to haul herself higher.

It broke, and the girl fell a few feet before her top got caught in one of the other branches. There she hung then, too scared to move in case her clothes slipped from the tree's grip or this branch broke as well.

The other children had started screaming, alerting their caretaker Inga, as well as the group of mages just passing by. When they got to the scene, they acted quickly. Under Lucy's instructions, Happy, Charle and Lily flew up to the girl, while Romeo and Wendy directed the other kids out of the way of any heavy branches that might come falling down if anything went wrong. Additionally, Lucy summoned Aries, just in case the wood broke before the exceeds got to the girl and she needed to cushion her fall .

Thankfully Happy reached the crying girl before anything more happened and got her down on the safe ground after untangling her clothes from the tree's hold. Inga had been so grateful for the rescue of one of her charges, that she invited the group in for a cup of tea.

It was then that they learned that this was actually Magnolia's orphanage. Lucy had been ashamed to admit that she hadn't known Magnolia even had one. But Inga had just smiled and waved off the blonde's embarrassment.

"Nonsense child, don't feel bad. Many don't know, what with our rather secluded location here. I have tried to find a place in town, of course, so that the children would be closer to other people and the market. But the houses there either don't offer enough space, or are far too expensive. We don't have that much money, you see?"

And they had seen. The house was in dear need of repair, there was nary a floorboard that didn't creak horribly when stepped on, the clothes the children wore were near threadbare and had patches all over them, the cups the tea for the group was served in had little cracks running all over them and what little other kitchen appliances Lucy spotted were in less than stellar condition as well.

Inga herself showed subtle signs of malnourishment, the clothes that must have once covered a well figured body hanging down on her lifelessly.

Lucy remembered seeing only five doors leading to other rooms, when they had entered the house and gone to the kitchen/livingroom. Which meant that if one door let to a bathroom and another to Inga's sleeping quarters, that left only three rooms for eleven children. Even if the infant twins slept in Inga's room at the moment, they wouldn't stay this small forever and Lucy doubted the three rooms could hold much more than the most basic of furniture.

All in all this made for rather cramped living accommodations. After their first cup of tea, the two teens and exceeds had quickly been roped into a game of tag with the children. Lucy had opted to stay inside with Inga and talk a little more with the woman.

"But shouldn't the town give you enough money for all the necessities?"

The woman shook her head tiredly. "It's not that easy. You see, the money a town donates to its orphanage is proportionally dependent on the towns population and income. Magnolia isn't a very big town with a comparably small income. So the towns monetary obligation to us is reduced to the cost of about seven children. But since I have eleven under my care, well... I guess you can see where the problem comes in."

Lucy was shocked. "But if there are more children than there is money, shouldn't the town accommodate for that? They can't just leave you to your own devices like that."

Inga took a sip of her tea, smiling slightly. "We can't demand more than the town is able and willing to give. Usually, in such a case, some children would be transferred to an orphanage in another city that still had open spaces. But... most of the children here have been together for years. They have become each others siblings and friends. I don't want to sever the bonds they have built with each other. And the twins are too young for the long journey to the next potential orphanage."

Lucy's heart went out to the older woman. She couldn't imagine the stress that came with such a responsibility laid on the weary shoulders. She didn't doubt a moment that Inga was a capable and loving caregiver to the children, the way she spoke of her clearly beloved charges told as much. But there was simply a limit to what one single woman could do when money was stretched so thin. If the town couldn't do more to help and provide for the children, then maybe others could.

Like Lucy herself. She had an idea already, but she wanted to speak with the others before she made any promises to Inga.

The group spent the next two hours with Inga and the kids, also getting to know Jacob, when the thirteen year old returned with the groceries from the market. His introduction to Wendy had caused some friction between him and Romeo though.

Lucy and Inga had shared a secret simile when they watched a blushing Jacob tell Wendy about his plans of becoming a doctor when he was older and a jealous Romeo throwing the other boy dirty looks every time Wendy told him how she thought it was great that he wanted to help others.

The kids had enjoyed their time with the wizards greatly. Lucy had showed the girls how to make necklaces and bracelets out of flowers, while Romeo proudly presented what he could do with his staff in a training battle against Loki (summoned courtesy of Lucy). Wendy happily participated in each and every game the children came up with and, along with Lucy, fell completely in love with the baby twins when they woke up and Inga encouraged the girls to hold them.

The ultimate winners of the kids absolute adoration though were the three exceeds. After they had taken the children flying for a few rounds, the little ones simply loved them. Even the ever so stoic Charle had a smile on her lips while playing around.

When the group left the orphanage, it was with the promise to return and play again. When they reached the first line of houses of their hometown after a relaxed fifteen minute walk, Lucy felt ready to inform the others of her plan.

"Guys, I've been thinking... we worked pretty good as a team, right?" Knowing that there war more to the subject, the others just nodded, waiting for the blonde to continue.

"So how about we make it something more regular? I'm not saying to form a new team; Happy and I couldn't leave Natsu and Lily is Gajeels partner after all. And it would benefit Romeo and Wendy more if they got to work with different partners while they are still developing their abilities. But I thought the six of us could take a mission together, like, once a month, when we are not out with our usual partners. What do you think?"

Romeo and Wendy smiled up ecstatically. "That would be great!"

"Yes, I would like to work together with everyone again."

Charle crossed her arms and tried to make an indifferent face. "Well, you would at least be a better influence on Wendy than that walking damage report you call a partner."

Happy flew up to Lucy's head and laid himself comfortably on her blond locks. "I don't mind, but Natsu won't be happy about it. And you have to give me fish."

Lucy smiled, reached up and scratched the blue cat behind his ears.

Lily nodded thoughtfully."I'm not opposed to the idea and it would give me a better opportunity to train young Romeo in the art of staff fighting, " said teen sent an appreciative smile at the black cat. "but I get the feeling that there is more to your proposition Lucy."

The blonde smiled sheepishly. "Well, you see..." And then she told them of her talk with Inga. "I really do think that we did good together and I would like to do this again. But after our little visit with Inga and the kids, I thought maybe we could, after going on missions with our regular teams, you know, take on another mission - the six of us - and then donate the reward of that mission to the orphanage. What do you think?"

She was met with smiling faces.

Wendy clapped her hands together. "I think that's a wonderful idea Lucy."

Lily nodded. "It really is a shame that Magnolia can't support those in need, but it really isn't only the towns responsibility either."

Happy perked up from atop her head. "I'm sure Natsu will help too once we tell him."

Charle snorted. "If that destructive idiot comes along on missions we will have to spent most of the reward money on repair costs."

Romeo laughed. "Well, I'm sure it's gonna be great to work together again, and we did promise the kids we would visit them again, right?"

The rest of the way to the guild was spent in merry conversation between the six, contemplating the kinds of missions they could take for their new project and planning their next visit to the orphanage. When the great building came in sight, the group subconsciously slowed their pace a little, until they came to a very uncertain stop right in front of the big doors.

Non of them had forgotten the state they had left their guildmates in and they were very apprehensive about how things had developed in their absence.

Finally Lucy stepped forward, a slightly forced grin on her pretty face. "Come on guys, there is nothing to worry about. It's been more than eight days, I'm sure the guild is back to normal. Just be ready to get out of the way of any flying missiles in case there is a brawl going on and the guys are throwing chairs and other stuff around again."

Then she turned to the doors and took a deep breath in preparation of the loud greeting she would have to give in order to be heard over the guilds usual racket. She pushed the doors open but the words never left her lips.

It was a disturbing sense of deja vu that passed over her as her eyes scanned the hall before her.

The girls on the right, the boys on the left. Silent murmurs, angry glares. The master sitting on top of the bar counter, a black suitcase beside him. The mission board overflowing with requests, some of them having fallen to the ground. That suffocating atmosphere.

Lucy took in the scene with a sense of disbelief.

_/Is that what they have been doing for the last eight days?/_

Unbeknownst to her, her hands clenched into tight fists by her side.

_/Did they seriously spend the last __**eight days**__ being angry at each other?/_

Her eyes lowered, blonde bangs casting a light shadow over them.

_/Sitting around here all day, arguing with or ignoring each other?/_

Her body began shaking.

_/All of that because of some stupid system?!/_

And then something inside her snapped. One fast movement and her whip raced across the hall, wrapped around the handle of the black suitcase and brought it back to Lucy, as well as the attention of all of her guildmates. The blonde caught the money case easily and then snapped her eyes up to look at her stunned friends.

"You... IDIOTS!"

She was pissed.

* * *

I think this is the shortest chapter I have ever written, but my boss just sprung this business trip on me and I didn't want to leave you with nothing for the next two weeks. I'm really sorry that once again I'm giving you a chapter with so little story content, had I known about the damn trip beforehand I would have spent more time writing for this chapter. This right now is about half of what I had planned for chapter 6. But, well, it can't be changed.

I hope you still like this chapter so far. Please let me know what you think.

* * *

Reviews:

**finnythewise:** You are right, this plot could have gone in many different directions, which is why I hope that someone read my notice in the last chapter about using my story however they like to create a 'what if' scenario. Thank you very much for your review.

**PandaGirl:** Yes, that was awesome, even if she only managed to hold all her spirits out for a few seconds. But I'm content with her only being able to call out two at a time. I mean, can you imagine how absolutely, terrifyingly strong a celestial wizard who could summon 5 or more spirits would be? If another mage faced someone of that calibre, they wouldn't be fighting against just another mage, but against multiple opponents who would all be as strong as the celestial wizard. Imagine Lucy becoming as strong as Gildarts, or even Laxus AND being able to call so many of her spirits. She would be unbeatable. Which would make it boring. And no one would be even able to reach her anymore. No, I really like her more the way she is now. And I think she already qualifies as the best celestial mage out there. :-) I threw in another little RoWen moment for you, I hope you liked it. Thanks for the comment.

**CelestialTitania:** You are right, Lucy's wish didn't come true. In fact, it seems like there was no progress at all concerning the Guild. And now Lucy is angry. Where will all this lead? Thank you for your review.

**ZeldaWithAShotgun:** Really, this is your favourite story? That's so cool! Thank you!

**Dunyahu:**You are right. I usually go for the long stories myself, but sometimes it gets so frustrating when things start to feel like the story is just treading in place and not going anywhere and then the author seems to come up with the most ridiculous problems to draw things out and add drama. One could really get fed up with that. Well, things haven't improved any in the guild and now Lucy is pissed off. I don't think I have ever seen her really angry in the series, which is one reason why I want to play with that a little in the next chapter. And of course, NaLu fluff will follow. Thank you for your wonderful review.

**DeathGoddesses:** You were right, the guys are still fighting, nothing has changed on that front. And Natsu's reaction to Lucy and the others absence for this whole time, well, we will have to wait for that until the next chapter. If Lucy leaves everyone unscathed, that is. :-) Thank you for your comment.

**LightSpeed Athlete24:** Thanks, you are right, there really needed to be a transitional chapter, I don't think it would have been good if I had made them return to the Guild right after that mission. And this way I was able to portray the different emotions fueling Lucy's actions better, so the chapter really had to be done. I wonder what you think of the recent developments so far and Lucy's reaction to the state her guildmates seem to be stuck in. She isn't exactly sad right now, but that might come... Thank you very much for your great review.

**cody murphy:** Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me, I was pretty confused. I will try to give the story a little more content than originally planned, but I don't wanna run the risk of drawing things out too much and make the readers pissed because there is no real progress. But thank you very much for your comment.

**Arrow of Artemis:** Well-written indeed. I have stumbled upon some fanfictions that were,... lets just say I didn't make it to the second chapter because my stomach was turning from all the grammatical mistakes and typos. And then there are those that simply don't make much sense (or any). But we all start out one day and not everyone can produce good work with the first try. I mean I do consider myself to be an experienced writer, but I am so far from perfect it isn't even funny. But here is to hoping that the authors just starting out will improve in their writing and story developement, so that we will have many, many fanfics to read in the future.

And I so agree with you. Lucy knows she isn't as strong, and really, why should she need to be? This is Fairy Tail, not Sabertooth. Friends shouldn't discriminate against everyone's level of battle-prowess. And I maintain my believe that it would be boring if everyone was at the same power level. And what is that obsession with power that most fans seem to have? Why is it always 'Lucy needs to be stronger and goes to train' or 'Lucy gets kicked out for being weak' or 'Lucy gets a new kind of magic and meets a dragon and is the queen of the stars and has more magical power than everyone else combined' and so on. Seriously, it's getting annoying. I really prefer a Lucy that uses her magic to the best of her ability and trusts her friends to have her back and uses her brain more than her brawn. And I LIKE it when Natsu saves her! If she were too powerful, he wouldn't get to save her anymore! So yeah! Lucy is okay the way she is. I'm so sorry for dumping this all on you, this topic just gets me rolling every time.

And of course I don't mind the long review! I freaking love it! Thank you so much!

**claude crane:** Don't worry, I will get to the others (especially Natsu's) thoughts about the whole situation in the next chapter. And Mirajane will have her turn somewhere to the end of the fiction. I hope you liked this chapter anyway.

**MaroonAngel of Darkness:** Oh, believe me, Natsu most DEFINITELY noticed that Lucy and Happy weren't there for the last eight days. And Lucy's angry explosion in the next chapter will really shake him, as well as the other guildmembers. But I don't want to spoil too much. I hope you liked this chapter as well and thank you very much for your review.

**Jackpot 2:** I'm really trying to not let loose on another ramble like I did with Arrow of Artemis above, but yeah, bottom line is, I don't like the way everyone always makes Lucy out to be weak and that she NEEDS to get stronger because apparently she isn't any use if she can't pulverize a boulder with her fists and why is it that in the fictions that do feature her becoming stronger no one ever bothers to train her in her field of magic? Why is it always building up bodily strength and developing new powers and learning how fight with weapons and train without her keys? Why the hell does everyone always make her train without her keys? Where is the logic in that?! That is her chosen field of magic, so why the hell shouldn't she train with her spirits? Gray trained with his element as a kid, Natsu is always around fire when he gets stronger and Erza naturally trains with her weapons because she is a requip-mage. So why doesn't Lucy get to train in her element? ... I'm sorry, even though I tried not to ramble like this, it's just that this frustrates me so much... I just really wish all those authors would stop changing everything I so like about Lucy's character... Oh well, can't do anything about it I guess. I mean it really is a matter of opinion after all and apparently most people are of the opinion that someone not as strong as others has no right to exist... or something like this. so DAMN frustrating. And I'm rambling again. I'm so sorry. Please don't feel too bothered... I just can't stop once I started. BUT, what I originally wanted to say, thank you so much for your review and I hope you liked this chapter as well.


	7. Chapter 7

The format got away from me and I somehow can't fix it. I really hate this about .

Table of contents:

- chapter 7

- a small ramble from me

- fanfic recommendations

- review answers for chapter 6

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Chapter 7

For the first few moments after Lucy's actions, silence reigned in the guild. But as soon as the shock wore off, the halls inhabitants found their voices again.

"Great work Lucy!" Erza approved.

"What the hell, Bunny girl! That is cheating!" Gajeel raged.

"It's not cheating, its using your brain! But I understand that this is a foreign concept for you!" Levy countered.

But before any more could be said - and by the looks of her fellow guild mates they were just gearing to start another verbal war - Lucy screamed.

"Shut up, shut up, shut the HELL UP!"

It worked like a charm. Not only was the hall eerily quiet, but everyone was looking at the blonde in complete and utter shock. Lucy never swore.

The celestial mage was breathing heavily, anger coursing through her as she fixed her gaze on the people she considered her friends and family.

"For the last eight days, Wendy, Romeo, Happy, Charle, Lily and me have been doing one mission after another. We fought monsters, and bandits and dark mages-" She was interrupted by Natsu's exclamation.

"What?! Lucy, why didn't you-"

"Quiet Natsu!"

The pink haired young man shut his mouth immediately when he saw the serious look on his partners face. It didn't alleviate the worry and panic he felt when hearing that she had faced such dangerous situations without him there to protect her though.

"We saved a little girls life and helped a village cope with the aftermath of a long draught. We freed a group of young women from slave traders and took care of so many bandits that I lost count. We even brought down a powerful barrier to return an amulet, that had an ancient demons powers sealed in it, back to its temple. But that's not nearly enough. There are people out there that need help, and as wizards, as Fairy Tail, we are supposed to give it to them!"

At that point Lucy pointed an angry hand at the overflowing mission board at the other side of the hall. When the rest of the guild looked at it, some of them blinked, seemingly realizing for the first time how many mission requests had accumulated during the past days. Then their eyes traveled back to their friends standing right in the entryway, and, once again, for the first time really took in the state of the six that constant travel and battle had left them in. All of them had at least one bandage in some place, their clothes were slightly torn and rumpled and their expressions and posture screamed of exhaustion.

But Lucy was far from finished.

"I have realized something in these last days. First, I'm a coward."

Natsu was about to protest, very loudly, together with quite a few others, but was once more stilled by Lucy's look.

"I knew this fight was different from your usual ones, but I was too afraid to stay and face the possible consequences of a serious confrontation. So I ran away. I realize now I should have at least tried to help you all fix this, but I didn't." Lucy looked positively pained when admitting this. Then she bowed her head down in apology. "For that, I am truly, deeply, sorry."

Again silence laid itself over the guild hall. No one enjoyed seeing their favorite celestial wizard so ashamed over something that wasn't her fault. The master had hopped off his seat on the bar and was about to take a step towards Lucy, when her head snapped up again and brown eyes gleamed furiously.

"Second, you are all big, fat, morons!"

That sudden change in mood gave everyone pause and Wendy, Romeo and the exceeds, who had all been standing close to Lucy, took a step back, startled by the vehemence in her voice.

"This is just like back then with the thunder palace problem. Instead of working together and destroying the electric drones, you were busy arguing with each other! You got over that, so what makes this one so damn different?! You don't care about the D.P. or L.C. systems! You guys don't really think that the girls are weak and you girls don't really think that the guys are stupid! You are all just too stubborn and proud to admit that you were wrong and say 'sorry'!"

The others were stupefied by the amount of truth that rung in her words, no one even moved a muscle. After what felt like an hour, but was no more than a few seconds, Lucy sighed tiredly and help up the almost forgotten money case.

"Now, I'm going to take this money and give it to the town's orphanage, because Mavis knows they need it far more than all of us combined. And if you are not happy with that and still not done with being big, fat, stupid, morons, you can just start hating me for all I care!"

And with that she turned and left the guild at a quick pace. Her five companions seemed undecided on whether to stay or follow her for a moment, but then quickly ran to catch up with Lucy.

The rest of the guild was left to their own thoughts, Lucy's words echoing in their minds. Again and again, gazes traveled from the mission board, to the still open doors, to the other gender, and back, until they all came to the exact same conclusion, at the exact same time.

"I'm sorry!"

The shared apology was followed by dumbfounded stares, then smiles and at last, laughter. Their laughter filled the air around them for about two minutes, before the first wizards managed to get themselves back under control.

Jet and Droy wasted no time in running to the female member of their team. "Levy! Please forgive us! We missed you!"

The blue haired script mage turned toward them with a smile on her face, though that quickly vanished when she realized the speed and abandon with which they were charging at her. Fearful, she waved her hands in front of her to stop her friends.

"Guys, slow down!"

But just before the overly enthusiastic boys could crush her, a long metal pole plowed into the pair and threw them into the opposite wall.

"You morons! Are you trying to flatten the shrimp?!"

Levy stared at Gajeel and hesitantly laid a hand on his arm. "Th-thanks, Gajeel."

He looked down into her big, soft eyes, and then quickly away, a very light pink shimmer on his cheeks. "Yeah, well, I didn't help you because I think you are weak, you know?"

Levy smiled, his gruff response did nothing to mask the apology from her. She leaned her head on his arm. "I know. 'Cause it's not like you are stupid."

The dragon slayer and script mage hoped fervently that the others were too busy reconciling to watch or interrupt the intimate moment they shared.

Alzack had made his way to Bisca and Asuka, holding the little girl in his arms. "Can you forgive your dad for being stupid my little princess?"

Asuka just nodded her head and wound her little arms around his neck, hugging him happily.

Smiling, the dark haired man turned to his wife, looking at her lovingly. "What about my beautiful wife? Can you forgive me?"

Bisca smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "Only if you forgive me too."

Elfman stood near Evergreen, slightly sweating. "Apologizing is MAN!"

And though the self-proclaimed Fairy queen would have usually been annoyed by his constant 'manly' - exclamations, this time she just nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too."

Freed had grown bold enough to finally approach the older Strauss sister with something he had been planning long before all this nonsense started. "Mirajane, if you can forgive my atrocious behavior over the last days, I would be honored if you would agree to go on a mission with me. I'm sure there is much I can learn from you."

Had anyone cared to look at that moment (except Freed himself of course) they would have seen Fairy Tails resident Matchmaker blush heavily. "Oh, of course. I would love you - TO! I would love TO do a mission with you!"

Cana stood beside Laxus, offering him a drink from her cup. "Levy told us about your fight. Pretty impressive."

The lightning mage took a sip from the alcoholic beverage and handed it back to Cana with a nod of thanks. "Yeah, well, we wouldn't have been able to do a thing without the legwork you girls did."

Juvia was about to dissolve into her own tears while a slightly panicked Gray tried to calm her down.

"Juvia is so sorry for calling her beloved Gray all those nasty things!"

"Juvia, calm down! Look, its not a big deal, I forgive you and I'm sorry as well for saying stupid things. Please just stop crying!"

And suddenly Gray was facing the water mages butt cheeks. "Juvia is ready to be punished."

Gray's whole face turned redder than Erza's hair as he tried to avert his eyes from the well formed bottom that was practically shoved under his nose. "Th-tha-that won't b-b-b-be necessary, Juvia!"

Erza was on one knee and bowing her head down before the master. "I'm deeply sorry for allowing the situation to get so out of control, Master. Please punch me."

But Makarov just laid his hand warmly on the shoulder of his red haired child. "No Erza, if this is anyone's fault, it should be mine. I don't know how I could let things go on like that for so long. But lets not lose time dwelling on our mistakes. There is much for us to do now."

The Titania smiled and nodded, standing up and looking at the rest of her guild members.

Lisanna and Bixlow were standing in front of the mission board, staring at the many flyers with wide eyes. "I can't believe there are so many of them. Has it really been eight days?"

Bixlow nodded, a hand on his chin contemplatively as he answered the young takeover mage. "If you consider the time before Lucy and the others left for their missions, it has been even longer. Remember, we were already in a tiff before Lucy came back from her trip."

Macao and Wakaba joined the two by the board, also giving the abundance of missions an astonished look. "How did this even happen?"

The question echoed through the hall as everyone thought about it quietly.

Though Natsu didn't know the answer for everyone else, he knew exactly how he himself got so caught up in this mess.

When the fighting had first started, he honestly hadn't given it much thought. His mind had been preoccupied with ways how to best tell Lucy all about how he had kicked those dark mages butts as soon as she returned from her trip. Her damn trip that he wasn't allowed to accompany her on and that had already lasted more than a week. It wasn't fair! They were supposed to be partners! He SHOULD have gone with her! So what if it was boring, he probably could have found a way to entertain himself while Lucy did whatever she needed to do. And after that, they could have gone exploring together! That was usually the way for them to find excitement anyway.

Mavis knew they accidentally stumbled into great adventures (that would then turn out to be quite dangerous) more often than not.

Especially Lucy! If she didn't get kidnapped to be ransomed or sacrificed, she made friends with people who were in trouble themselves or attracted the wrong kind of attention from the latest whack job.

Yes, his partner was quite the trouble magnet.

Not that he blamed her or anything! It wasn't Lucy's fault that she always seemed to be targeted. And as long as he was there to protect her, it wasn't a problem.

And that had been one of the things to aggravate Natsu the most when Lucy left on her trip back then. How in the world was he supposed to burn all those bastards that tried to harm her to a crisp if she didn't let him come?!

Just because she wasn't out there on a mission didn't mean that something couldn't go horribly wrong. But had Lucy given in to his arguments? No. His blond partner just kept on insisting that he was being ridiculous and that nothing would go wrong.

Naturally Natsu had continued to argue, demand and even plead his case, hoping to eventually wear her down. But then Lucy just had to come up with that nearly fool proof plan involving spirit world clothes and her clock spirit that would keep her perfectly safe. How was he supposed to argue with that?!

So he had to - very reluctantly - let her go. Alone. Which he hadn't liked. And of course, this also left him without her presence. Which he **really** hadn't liked.

At least she had left a message lacrima at the guild, but it worked only one way, so he wasn't able to call her at all or even talk to her when she herself did. And all she ever said was that she was safe, things were going well, but that she wasn't sure when she would be back. That hadn't sat well with the salmon haired dragon slayer. Not at all!

Twice he had tried to just go after her anyway. Hop on a train, (have Happy drag him out of it at the right station), find her and then simply use his awesome ninja skills and shadow her every move. She wouldn't have even known he was there! But somehow Erza and Gray had anticipated his plan and intercepted him both times! Stupid jerks.

And so he had been forced to wait. Patiently. Two words that weren't even supposed to be part of his vocabulary. Of course he could have gone on a few missions to waste some time, but then he might have missed Lucy's daily check-in-call. And apart from that, it just didn't feel right to go without her. It might have been just him and Happy for the longest time, but ever since Lucy joined the guild, she was part of the deal. They were a team. She was his partner. And she was **supposed** to be by **his side, dammit!**

The fact that she wasn't had left him in a very poor mood. Not even his routine break-in's into her apartment had changed that. Her gradually fading scent had only served to remind him that she wasn't there. With **him**. Where she **belonged**.

So by the time that rescue mission had come around, Natsu had been pretty much desperate for anything that might take his mind off his partners absence for a little bit. The mission itself was a piece of cake. They pretty much came, saw, and kicked ass. But then later at the guild, tough it wasn't like he was an actual participant in the fight from the beginning, he was far from deaf. While he was still trying to remember all the little details of his fight so that he could give Lucy a good recount, the accusations and insults that his friends threw at each other kept intruding into his mind. And after a while, he couldn't help but think about them.

At first he had thought the whole thing was ridiculous. The girls didn't care **that** much for shine things that they would try to rush through a mission. But then a particular memory came to mind of the time when him and his team had been taking care of a small dark guild and Erza had ranted at them to hurry it up because the town was having a discount sale on armory.

He quickly dismissed the thought when the girls shot back at the guys for being bottom less pits.

He hardly thought that was fair, it wasn't like food was the only thing on the male members minds, right? Although he couldn't help but recall all those comments Lucy had made about him and Happy eating her out of house and home. But that was just Lucy being weird. He would never cause her to loose her apartment. And if by some miracle he did, she would just come to live with him.

He had liked that idea.

His happy thoughts of living with his precious partner had soon been disturbed as more and more shouts flew through the guild and he was soon struggling to reason them away.

And what was their deal anyway? Why was everyone focusing on the perceived shortcomings of the other side? That was what teamwork was all about, wasn't it? Some were stronger than others and some were smarter than others and then there were some with other talents _still_ that contributed to the whole package. That was what it meant to be part of the Fairy Tail family, no one was perfect on their own and no one had to be. They completed each other.

Just like him and Lucy. They balanced each other out. She might not be as strong as him, but he was no where near as smart as her. And then he had paused in his thinking because, wasn't that exactly what everyone was fighting about?

That the girls were weak and the guys were dumb?

He remembered shaking his head at this notion. It wasn't like this between him and his partner! Yeah, he had sometimes made fun of her for not being as fast as him and being unable to split a boulder in two with her fist, but that was just him joking around! Lucy didn't need to be that strong because that's what she had him for!

And yes, there were numerous occasions when Lucy called him an idiot, but that was mostly when he did something that annoyed her - like that time he had nearly set her kitchen on fire to give the food that was cooking that little 'extra kick' - but it wasn't like she really meant it, right?

And then his thoughts had continued their downward spiral.

**Did **Lucy think that he was stupid?

Was that why she hadn't wanted him to come with her?

Was she getting tired of him?

Did she not want to be his partner anymore?

The more those thoughts circulated through his mind, the more frustrated he got. And the continuing argument of his guildmates did nothing to help. In fact, it only made it worse, because that was when he started getting all those crazy ideas.

Like that even if Lucy didn't think he was stupid, as soon as she returned, the girls would probably jump her and poison her mind against him. And then he had thought that maybe if he got stronger than he was now, she wouldn't mind if he was stupid and stay with him anyway. Which was when he concluded that in order to get stronger, he needed to train. And the best way to train would be in a new training hall with a D.P. system. And as an added bonus, if he trained there, he wouldn't damage or destroy anything and Lucy wouldn't get mad at him!

But as long as the girls wanted that stupid L.C. system, he wouldn't be getting his training hall anytime soon.

Which annoyed him.

Didn't they understand that he needed to become stronger to keep Lucy by his side?

What, first they make Lucy believe he is stupid and then they don't even leave him with a way to compensate for that?!

And that's when he had joined the guys in their fight against the girls. Because he had been confused and frustrated and angry and damn near terrified by the thought of loosing his Luce. He simply hadn't been thinking straight. He still wasn't by the time Lucy came back from her trip.

He was happy, no, ecstatic to see her and he had wasted no time in running to her and finally, **finally**, having her in his arms again.

He may not hug her often, but there was always some kind of bodily contact between them. Be it his arm around her shoulders, or her hand on his arm, or him tugging her along by her wrist, or him tickling her and her trying to retaliate, or all the times he sneaked into her bed at night and she would snuggle up to him and he would put his arm around her and pull her closer and bury his head in the crook of her neck and inhale her scent... he was getting off track.

Fact was, she was back in his arms and that was good. But his crazy, ridiculous, stupid thoughts about the girls corrupting his Lucy and her not wanting to stay with him were still plaguing him. So he **had** to press the building of the training hall once more. And if he got Lucy to agree with him, all the better. Because the way he had reasoned it to himself, if Lucy chose the side of the guys, or more importantly, HIS side, then that would proof to everyone that this fight was stupid. Because at least one girl wasn't like all the others, all those stereotypes were useless and his Luce had no intention of leaving him whatsoever!

But before the blond had the chance to say anything, the others had butted in and then Erza had pulled her away from him. And hadn't that been just how he had imagined it would go? That the girls would take his Luce away from him?

So he had gotten in on the ensuing fight once again, for a while even completely loosing sight of the celestial mage. It was when Lucy had approached Mirajane with the mission requests that Natsu completely lost his grip on the situation.

Because just as he was about to loudly demand that he was going with her, Cana, who had been standing right before him, had smirked at him mockingly and said: "See, Lucy is obviously so tired of you stupidly destroying everything in sight all the time and reducing the pay, that she would rather go with two children and three cats!"

This had made him at the same time so angry and depressed that he didn't even notice when the group of six left the guild.

And then he had been left alone for eight days with nothing but all those negative thoughts and crazy fears without a Happy to at least try to get him thinking about something else, and without a Lucy to talk some sense back into him.

Nothing else to do but be angry at the girls who, in his eyes, were responsible for his Lucy leaving him yet again!

_/And look where that got me./_ he thought as he took a look around at all the others that were, tentatively at first, and then happily making peace with each other, as well as the mission board. Lucy's words from before came back to him

_"There are people out there that need help, and as wizards, as Fairy Tail, we are supposed to give it to them!"_

_/We really were acting like a bunch of big, fat, morons, weren't we?/_

"Listen up, brats!"

All eyes turned to their Master, who was standing on one of the tables.

"Our behaviour over the last few days has brought shame over not only the guild, but mostly what it stands for. Because Fairy Tail is family, one persons joy is everyone's joy just as ones sadness is everyone's sadness. In this case it seems we all settled on anger and that is the one thing that should never be allowed to keep its grip on us for such a long time. Now, all of us are equally at fault for letting it blind our hearts like this, but now that we can see clearly again, it is time to take responsibility for our actions."

And just like Lucy did not that long ago, the old man pointed to the mission board.

"We will empty that board! We will help everyone that needs it and we will do it in record time! Because we are Fairy Tail, the strongest and greatest Guild in all of Fiore! Am I right?"

Everyone cheered wildly, their spirits lifted by their masters words and full of determination and a reawakened thirst for action after days of inactivity. When they realized that Makarov had more to say though, their cheering quieted down quickly.

"But first, there are six members of our family that we owe an apology to."

They all knew exactly what that meant and were eager to go after Lucy and the others.

"Well, what are we waiting for, come on everyone!" Erza exclaimed as she made her way to the guild doors.

"Yeah, gotta apologize to my son for being a bad role model." Macao said, right behind the Titania.

Wakaba and Cana came up to both of his sides and began joking. "Well, that's not much difference from the usual, is it?"

"Don't worry, you can make it up to the kid by teaching him how to drink!"

"Hurry up shrimp, I gotta go get my cat back!" Gajeel smiled at Levy, waiting for her as she caught up to him.

"I'm coming already! I want to ask Lu-chan about her trip anyway!"

"I'll make an extra delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies! Wendy seemed to enjoy the last one especially." Mira clapped her hands together in excitement. Lisanna nodded beside her. "I will help you!"

"They should be easy to find, right? Love rival said that she would take the money to the towns orphanage, no?" Juvia snaked her arm around Grays, who had once again lost his shirt.

"Magnolia has an orphanage?"

But before any of them so much as stepped a foot out of the guild, they were overtaken by a pink haired blur, running full speed after his favourite girl.

He may have acted like an idiot, but Natsu was not stupid. Because now that he was finally able to think clearly again, and after all the crazy thoughts and emotional roller coaster that the past days had forced upon him, he had figured something out as well. Something very important. And he needed to tell Lucy** right now!**

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Teaser for the next chapter: On their way back to Inga and the kids of the orphanage, still angry and depressed, Lucy and the others run into a bit of trouble. Will Fairy Tail catch up to them in time to save them?

* * *

This is a little longer than I wanted to write, for previously stated reasons, but I couldn't find a point at which I could have cut the chapter off. I honestly don't know what took longer to write, Natsu's entire reasoning for how he got caught up in the fight, or the Masters little speech. I do hope both were good and that especially Natsu's point of view in all this came across as understandable.

As always I would be very grateful for your opinion on the chapter.

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Now to another matter. With Fairy Tail's growing popularity, there are more and more fanfictions uploaded every day. So many in fact, that it is nearly impossible to keep track of all the new and updated stories. And though I think it's fantastic that there are ever more stories about my favourite characters, the thought about how many I will probably never read because I simply overlook them in this mass of stories out there is quite disconcerting. And even if one manages to be up to date with all new and updated entries in this category, some story summaries are very misleading and might put one off reading the fic, even though this particular fic could turn out to be the best you ever read.

If you feel the same way as I do on this particular subject, I would like to make a suggestion.

With every future story I put out here, I will make (well, try to) at least one personal fanfic recommendation and I would like for you to do so as well in a review. If we all work together on this, I believe there will be many a story we will get to enjoy that we otherwise would have never found.

So, I'm gonna start now:

- Dance Party, by luffy fan. Pairing is Laxus/Lucy. Why you should read this: Because it's well written, neither drags the plot out too much nor jumps too far ahead in terms of relationship development, is a little more mature than others, is funny and sweet at times as well as exciting and sexy. Can also be seen as inspiring for possible sequels, add on's, or alternative versions and spin offs.

- A Dragon's Princess, by HoneyFlower15. Pairing is Natsu/Lucy. Why you should read this: Not usually one for oneshots myself, but this one is a must read. That is if you enjoy the occasional 'a little bit darker than others' story. It shows just how close love and obsession can get. Also great inspiration material.

On a side note: Just check out all Fairy Tail fictions from HoneyFlower15, especially her Dragon's Eye series (and prequel: Future Shock). Those are a little softer, though Natsu is still very possessive towards Lucy. The author sometimes leaves some details to the readers imagination and some of the stories could be a little more fleshed out, but its non the less a very enjoyable read with many steamy, funny and sweet situations.

- To Be Lucky, by SanseiAme. Pairing is Natsu/Lucy Why you should read this: Heartwarmingly sweet at times but a pure Fairy Tail fanfiction with its due bout of funny situations.

- We Are Young, by koa-chan. Pairing is Natsu/Lucy. Why you should read this: It's a modern world AU without magic and with our beloved gang in a school setting. Even though it is AU, it is one of the most accurate depictions when it comes to the individual characters that I have come across. The relationships, be they on a purely platonic level or heading towards romance, are beautifully described and there is much fun to be had in reading this. Though the story is on the lighter side overall, it has it's fair share of drama and hardships. But that is usually when the friendships between the characters shine the brightest. And the best, it makes you yearn for more.

That's it so far, but I will try to have more ready with the next (and final) chapter of this story. And future ones of course.

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Now to the comments:

**- PandaGirl:** Always nice to read your reviews especially! And you were the first one, thanks! I hope I was able to meet your expectations with the chapter. But if not, please tell me what you think about it.

**- Bladzesword:** Thank you for your kind words. Yes, it was about time that Lucy did something. I hope you liked her reaction.

**- Hiyeeee:** Thank you, though the relationship between Romeo and Wendy was only meant to be a sidereel to the story, I'm glad that so many enjoy it. Please let me know if you liked this chapter as well, or if there were things you didn't agree with (negative criticism is in fact more valuable to me as it helps me improve) not that that means I actually want to know that I suck… sigh. :-)

**- MaroonAngel of Darkness:** She did! :-)

**- Dunyaho:** Hi there, always a pleasure seeing your reviews. I'm sure you came to the right conclusion regarding the use of the money. Glad you liked it. And I had fun with little Jacob (Romeo's possible rival) I'm acutally thinking, if I write a sequel of this some day, that I could maybe also add one for Natsu… you know, since Natsu is kinda Romeo's role model, he should kinda face the same problems, right? :-) But anyway, thank you for the comment.

**- Claude crane:** Heavens no, what made you think that they would attack Lucy? And them acting stupid was kinda the point of this all, just as it was with Natsu, the others just got swept up in the fight. After a while, it had nothing to do with logic or anything else along those lines, just stubbornness and pride, as Lucy pointed out. Ehm, and Gildarts wasn't part of this at all, he isn't there. Still, thank you very much for your thoughts on this, I need to know what people really think about what I write. I do hope you liked this chapter better.

**- DeathGoddessess:** As you can see, Lucy came to the same conclusion. :-) Thanks for the review.

**- ZeldaWithAShotgun:** You know, I have been wondering for some time now how you came up with this nickname. It's really cool. You gave me quite the fright with your last review. colossally great. With such high expectations, I felt like I was under monstrous pressure. I don't think this chapter is 'colossally great', but I do hope you still enjoyed it. Lucy was pretty pissed, but she was also very sad. Thank you very much for your review. :-)

**- LightSpeed Athlete24**: You wrote a long review! Thank you so freaking much! To tell the truth, the mini-sideline-plot with the orphanage wasn't something I originally planned, it just came to me when I wrote the chappy. But I'm glad it was so well received. And it also helped out with the money problem nicely. And I picture Romeo and Wendy about the age of 13/14. I don't know if their actual age was ever given in the manga or anime, but that's kinda how I see them. Just old enough for a little puppy love. :-) (That may grow with them) Thanks for wishing me luck on the business thing, it was a pain in the butt though. Bored me to tears. Never ever visit a tea seminar…

**- Redterra:** I might write some spin offs for this story one day that features one or two of the missions the team went on. Thank you for your review.

**- GoldenRoseTanya:** Right you are, I honestly couldn't think of any better use for it. Thank you for your kind words.

**- Allycat1979:** Well, I hope you enjoyed the way first Lucy and then Master handled the situation. Thank you for your review.

**- BitterMondays:** I'm so glad you see it that way, cause it was very important to me to show that Lucy can be a capable mage without growing ridiculously strong and gaining other forms of powerful magic. As I have stated many times before, I like her exactly the way she is and don't want her to change too much. Thank you for your review.

**- Salamander27:** Okay :-)

**- Dreamer372:** Done :-)

**- Tamniin:** Your review made me blush, thank you so much! I kinda obsess over stories because I want everything to make sense and be understandable and sometimes I fear that due to that, I explain some things too much and bore the reader. And the language issue is also always a great hurdle for me, as my vocabulary is rather limited and I can't always express certain things in the way I would like to. But I'm so glad you like the story! Thanks again :-)

**- CelestialTitania:** I don't know if you are correct with the Gemini thing. Remember, Gemini also turned into Gray, so then that would mean that Gray is also weaker than Angel. And in the end, Lucy beat Angel, so I don't care about power levels. Also I don't think that Lucy needs to work on her magic that much, its just that she never really gets to show what she can do. And even then, it is a matter of ambition. As I see it, Lucy isn't the fighter type, like Natsu or others, who want to grow stronger for the sake of growing stronger. Their goal is to someday be the best in their field. Lucy, however, wants to be friends with her spirits and dreams about becoming an author. I don't even think she want's to be S-Class that much. Sure, she trained for the GMG, but that was because she wanted to help her guild regain its glory, not for the personal satisfaction of being strong. Well, at least that's how I understood it. I gotta be honest, the 'Lisanna replaces Lucy' story type is probably my least favourite out there (okay, acutally, I hate it - but thats just my personal opinion, many other like this type of story, so please don't take what I say to heart). But at least you don't have her leaving the guild, that's good. Thank you very much for your review.

**- present darkness:** Hope you still like the story. :-) Thanks for the comment.

**- Cody murphy:** Thank you, the trip went very well, it was just excruciatingly boring. :-) Well, nobody died, but they still got the lecture of a lifetime. Thanks for the comment.

**- Inori. D:** You were right, the money will be used for a charitable cause. :-) And yes, it was about time that Lucy resolved the issue in the guild. Thanks for the review.

**- Darian castillo:** Thanks very much!

**- Jinxgudluck:** I did my best :-) Thanks for the comment.


	8. Chapter 8

A quick word before you start reading. I announced last chapter that this one would be the final installment of the story, but it kinda got away from me. So it's gonna be chapter 8 of 9, instead of 8 of 8.

Table of contents:

Chapter 8

Fanfic recommendations

Future fanfic summaries

Reviews from chapter 7

Have I mentioned that I hate the format here?

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Chapter 8

_/For eight goddamn days!/_

Her feet felt heavy with all the anger coursing through her veins. It did nothing to slow her down though, as she quickly stomped her way along the streets of Magnolia. Her fingers clutched tightly around the handle of the suitcase.

_/Those idiots!/_

But really, what did she expect from that bunch. Memories assaulted her out of the blue.

Gray asking to borrow her underwear.

Mirajane gleefully prying into her non-existent love live while simultaneously trying to hook her up with half of the members of the guild.

Jet and Droy hounding her for advise on how to get Levy to spend more time with them.

Gajeel cackling evily as he dragged her to the stage for another musical number.

_/Stupid,-/_

The Master smacking her butt with a perverted grin.

Bisca and Alzack asking her to babysit all the time.

Laki and Kinana ganging up on her and forcing her into embarrassing outfits for Max to take pictures and sell with the rest of his merchandise.

Vijeeter whining non stop until she agreed to help him practice.

_/self-centered,-/_

Levy conspiring with the barmaid to try and get Lucy to date.

Warren scaring the hell out of her by suddenly yelling into her mind, just so she would spill her drink over her white shirt and making it nearly see through.

Macao and Wakaba always the first when there was the possibility of seeing more exposed skin. Usually hers.

Erza barging into her home and demanding for some girl time when she was trying to work on her novel.

_/stubborn,-/_

Nab standing uselessly before the mission board, never taking one.

Cana groping her breasts all the time.

Lisanna coercing Happy into telling her about all those embarrassing moments she had with Natsu and then teasing her mercilessly with the knowledge

Elfman ruining her good mood brought on by her shopping spree, by saying that her new shoes were unmanly.

_/moronic,-/_

Bixlow teaching his babies to continually chant 'She llllliikes him' whenever she even looked in Natsu's general direction, with Freed snickering beside him.

Evergreen haughtily informing Lucy that she has had far more photo shoots for magazines than the blonde.

Juvia nearly drowning her in one of her jealous rages.

Laxus calling her 'blondie' all the time.

_/arrogant,-/_

But then a whole other set of memories played in her mind.

Gray following her home to protect her from a stalker.

Mirajane greeting her with a cheerful smile, already having a milkshake waiting for her.

Jet and Droy thanking her for her advice by buying her many of her favourite sweets.

Gajeel making a new, sturdier ring for her keys out of metal for her.

_/thoughtful,-/_

Bisca and Alzack bringing her her favourite pastry from the bakery in town.

Laki keeping an eye out for any shops that might sell celestial gate keys for her.

Kinana patiently listening to her complain about her team while cleaning glasses.

Max giving her a percentage of whatever he made from selling his 'Lucy-themed' merchandice.

The Master listening to her worries and giving her grandfatherly advice.

_/loving,-/_

Vijeeter showing her his newest dance moves first before anyone else.

Levy excitedly begging for the next chapter of her novel.

Warren using his telepathy to warn her of Natsu trying to sneak up on her.

Macao and Wakaba filling her in on all the past misdeeds of her fellow guildmates.

_/fun,-/_

Erza sharing her cake with her to cheer her up after having to use most of their reward money for repairs.

Cana showing her some tricks how to best hold her liquor.

Elfman congratulating her on being 'Man' after she 'Lucy-kicked' Gray across the hall for stripping right in front of her.

Nab pointing out missions he thought she would like to her.

_/considerate,-/_

Lisanna inviting her to go shopping together.

Freed teaching her some easy runes, while Bixlow and his babies cheered for her when she was able to write them out.

Evergreen pulling her with her to pose for Reedus together.

Laxus challenging Natsu to a fight when he noticed that she needed a break from her energetic best friend.

Juvia agreeing to go on a mission together when Lucy's rent was nearing and she couldn't afford for Natsu or the others to destroy more property.

_/wonderful people/_

Her pace slowed to a stop when the person most dear to her came to mind.

_/And Natsu with his stupid pranks and hot headedness, and always sleeping in my bed and keeping me warm, and protecting me all the time. With his big, warm grin and dark eyes./_

She looked to the ground, her hair shielding her eyes as she thought about her parting words to the rest of the guild.

Her five companions had finally managed to catch up to the celestial wizard and Wendy laid a hand on her arm, her tone worried.

"Are you alright, Lucy?"

The blonde nodded, then shook her head, then sighed. "I don't want them to hate me."

Her voice had been soft, but loud enough for the others around her to hear. They smiled at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry Lucy, that won't happen."

Happy flew up to her head and nuzzled into her hair. "Aye! And Natsu would never be able to hate you, no matter what happened! He missed you very much when you were gone for those two weeks, you know? We had to break into your room every day, or else he would just sulk around in the guild. He lllllliiikes you!"

Lucy wasn't sure if she should blush, or be angry about the invasion of her home.

Romeo nodded. "Natsu even refused to go on any missions as long as you were gone and he always stayed close to the message lacrima you left at the guild."

Okay, now she was definitely blushing. She hadn't thought Natsu would take her absence so hard. Sure, she hoped he would miss her, but she never suspected that he wouldn't even go on any missions. In fact, she had believed that he would take advantage of being able to take one of those really dangerous, or really messy missions that he always wanted to go on, but she always refused.

Charle and Lily also gave her their reassurances. "You gave them some things to consider with what you said, so they should be thinking clearly again."

"And even if there are still some angry feelings left between them, they would never hate a member of their guild. Don't think badly about what you said back there. You did good."

A small tear ran down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away, smiling.

"Thanks guys. You are right. I don't regret what I did. I should have done it a lot sooner. But no use stressing about this now, lets get this money to Inga and then head back and see how everyone is doing."

With new found enthusiasm, the six resumed their walk. But they had only taken about three steps when Lily gestured for them to stop, looking ahead with narrowed eyes.

"Lily, is something wrong?" asked Lucy, as she followed his gaze to an approaching group of people. An approaching **large** group of people. And if her sixths sense wasn't wrong, all of them were mages.

She scanned them as thoroughly as possible from this distance. About forty people, most of them male, all were dressed in dark colours. Many of them were armed, having swords strapped to their waists or carrying clubs over their shoulders. She even spotted some guns.

And if that wasn't enough, the menacing aura they were giving off, that scared the other people on the streets back into their houses, was plenty proof that they meant trouble.

As the group grew closer, Lucy subtly positioned herself before Wendy and Romeo, her hand going reflexively to her key pouch. Lily changed into his battle form and stood beside her, ready to draw his sword. The teenagers got into battle stances as well, Happy and Charle keeping alert in case they had to fly them out of there.

A man in his late thirties, of about Gildarts height and broad built, came to a stop right in front of the pretty blonde. He smirked down at her, his shaggy brown hair falling away from his face to reveal the many scars running all over it.

"Now, what do we have here? A sexy little thing to give us a warm welcome perhaps? Why, how very nice of you girlie."

He and the other men leered at her, making her hovering hand grip onto her keypouch tightly. The movement didn't go unnoticed by 'Scarface', as Lucy had dubbed him in her mind.

"Is that a Fairy Tail mark on your hand girlie? I thought all of you little pixies had been crushed by a dark guild."

The man to Scarface's right stepped forward, also scrutinizing Lucy's guildmark.

"I heard the council imprisoned them for destroying the palace."

After that a woman spoke, a sneer quite audible in her voice.

"Idiot! The palace wasn't destroyed! Fairy Tail disbanded after their dragon slayers went on a rampage and killed most of their members."

Yet another voice sounded.

"Really? I thought they just moved the guild to another city."

While Romeo and Wendy exchanged confused looks with Lily, Charle and Happy, the puzzle pieces slowly clicked together in Lucy's mind.

Of course, Fairy Tail was known all over Fiore as the loudest, most destructive guild, with its members causing one scandal after another. But due to their fight, the wizards of Fairy Tail hadn't been active for more than a week. Apart from the six of them, no one had taken any missions, caused any property damage, been accused of public nudity, drank a bar out of its alcohol, intimidated the townsfolk or any of the other shenanigans that her dear guildmates usually got into.

Rumours and speculations as to explain Fairy Tails sudden 'slumber' would have practically bounced off every corner and getting blown out of proportion with every retelling.

Now that she thought about it, Lucy remembered all those curious looks they got, as well as the whispered conversations all around, when they had been traveling to their individual missions. She had been too preoccupied back then to pay them any mind.

_/Who knows what kind of ludicrous stories are spreading all over Fiore. It's a wonder non of the other guilds or the magic council themselves have sent someone to check things out./_

And after another thorough look at the group before her, Lucy was pretty sure she knew why they were here.

Scarface, the apparent leader of the other mages, proofed her right with his next words.

"Well, whatever. Doesn't matter why the annoying pests are gone, only that they are! And without a proper guild, Magnolia is ripe for the picking!"

At that most of the men and women behind him cheered loudly. Lucy was getting worried. Of course all those rumours weren't true and Fairy Tail would kick these guy's asses as soon as they got wind of them, but that knowledge didn't improve their current situation.

Right now they were six very exhausted and slightly battered mages, standing before a group of over forty mages with unknown strengths and abilities. The odds were definitely not in their favour.

They needed help. They needed to contact the others. But could they outrun these people? One of the exceeds might be able to fly back to the guild unhindered, but she doubted that any of the three would be willing to leave the others alone right now. And they wouldn't be able to hold them off for long.

Lucy had caught a glimpse of the guildmark on Scarface's neck. A sword with a snake wrapped around it. Poison Blade. She had read about them. They were a rogue guild, not legalized by the council and notorious for taking in dark mages and those running from authority. She knew they were on the army's 'Wanted' list, but compared to other, much more dangerous fugitives that required the knights full attention, it was no surprise they could walk around this freely.

Lucy heard a muttered "Damn!" beside her and then an odd 'plop' sound. A look to her left quickly revealed that Pantherlily was back to his small form, no longer having the energy to maintain the battle one.

This was not good.

Then suddenly she felt two rough fingers on her chin, forcing her to look right at Scarface, who now stood very close to her. He towered over her a good foot and smirked down.

"How about this Dollface, you show us to your old guild house and I will give you a little 'reward' later on. And who knows, some of my boys might be grateful enough to reward you as well."

The way he and the other men leered at her left no doubt to what the creep was hinting at. Lucy shuddered in disgust. She was just about to summon Taurus, when a long staff was swung at Scarface's hand, causing him to yelp in pain and retract his hand quickly.

"Leave Lucy alone you bastard!"

Romeo stood right before her, his weapon at the ready. Lucy was about to pull him back, when the boy was roughly grabbed by the throat and hauled up to the angry, scarred face of Poison Blade's leader.

"What was that you snotty little brat?! Is that any way to treat your betters?!"

Behind them the two girls gasped. "Romeo!" "Let him go!"

But the boy just stared the man right in the eyes. "Scum like you will never be my better!"

The hand around his throat tightened, making Romeo cough and gasp for breath. Wendy knew that she couldn't use her dragon roar to help Romeo, as her friend would be hit by the attack as well, so she quickly drew a magic circle to pump some of her energy into the older blonde before her. Lucy wasted no more time as she felt Wendy pour energy into her.

"Taurus!"

The bull spirit jumped forward, his giant axe aimed at the arm that held the young friend of his mistress suspended in air. Scarface saw the attack coming and threw the boy away from him harshly. He avoided the sharp blow easily and called forth his own magic.

"Steel Claw!"

His fingers turned into long, sharp, dagger-like, claws which he then drove into the bull's unprotected back. Lucy cried out in horror. "Taurus!"

With a wicked looking grin, the man extracted his hand from the already dissolving body. Taurus managed to sent a pained smile to his mistress.

"I'm sorry, I won't be able to protect your wonderful body."

Wendy had run to Romeo's side, worried that the brutal impact with the ground might have done him damage. Charle was right behind her, a careful eye on the rest of the enemy mages that were watching them with seemingly unconcerned and amused smirks on their faces.

She kneeled down next to him as he tried sitting up with a painful groan.

"Be careful Romeo. You might have hurt your head."

"I'm okay, we need to help Lucy!"

The two heard the blonde scream and turned just in time to see her bull spirit disintegrating and going back to the spirit world.

Scarface was chuckling slightly, looking at his steel claw fingers.

"Never cut through a spirit before. I must say I'm dissappointed. No blood, no skin tissue… It really can't compare to the thrill of ripping open a human body."

Lucy paled and took an unsteady step back. This guy was insane.

This was the first time she had ever been grateful that Loke was currently at too low a power level to open his own gate. (He had overdone it a little when showing off to the kids earlier.) Because otherwise her loyal lion spirit would have popped up as soon as Taurus informed him of the threat and engaging this man in combat was not a good idea right now.

If circumstances were different, Lucy might have had a chance to fight this guy. Scorpio would have been able to slow him down, while Cancer could have countered his sharp fingers with his scissors.

Loke and Capricorn might have been able to use their experience and speed to tag team him.

Virgo could have possibly trapped him while Sagittarius and Aquarius kept him in place.

But she wasn't at her full power, she wouldn't even have been able to summon Taurus earlier if not for Wendy's help. Her companions were similarly at the end of their rope and Scarface had his whole damn guild behind him.

It took about two seconds for the blonde to calculate their chances and best plan of action.

Non of them would be able to make it back to the guild to get help, not when there were forty people ready and eager to take their retreat as an invitation to fight. And she was quite sure they would, based on all those bloodlusty grins she saw.

_/I could lead them to Fairy Tail and let everyone stomp the bastards into the ground, but Scarface might use the others and myself as hostages against our friends. I need to get the others out from under Poison Blade's radar first./_

If it was only her, she might be able to recover enough of her energy on the way to the guild to summon Horologium at the right time to get her out of the crossfire.

So she tried to swallow her fear and disgust and took a step closer to Scarface, who was still staring at his clean, steel knife fingers.

"Alright, I will bring you to the old guild building. And we can have some… fun later." Nausea rose in her as she practically choked out the words. "But it will be just me! You leave my friends alone!"

The two teenagers, who had made their way slowly back to her side with Charle, had already opened their mouths to protest, when Happy beat them to it.

"Lucy no! I'm not leaving you alone with those guys!"

The blue cat flew up right between her and an amused looking Scarface.

"You can't touch her! When Natsu isn't around, he trusts me to protect Lucy and I'm not gonna let you hurt my friend!"

The young woman was touched, but knew she had to get Happy away from the dangerous man before he hurt her little friend. But she was too late when in the next second a sneer replaced the formerly amused expression on the scarred face and he used his un-transformed hand to punch the brave exceed out of the air. The great force sent Happy right into the stone wall of the closest house. The others gasped.

"Happy!"

Charle quickly flew over to the crumpled and groaning cat on the ground. The men and women standing behind their leader began laughing cruelly. Romeo angrily clenched his staff in his hand.

"You damn-" But was halted as Lucy held out a hand in front of him. She tried to keep her voice steady as she fixed her eyes on the man before her.

"Do we have a deal or not? I will keep you company, and in exchange neither you or anyone else of your guild will touch my friends again!"

Lily had kept uncharacteristically silent so far, as he had an idea what the blonde was up to. He didn't like it, but just like Lucy, he had analysed their situation and knew they didn't have many (or really _any_) other options.

Scarface had put on a mockingly contemplating expression as he pretended to think over her offer.

"I don't know. So far I have been insulted and attacked by you and your little friends. The brat and that flying rat even pissed me off. How do you plan to compensate me for that?"

He had gotten uncomfortably close while talking, now standing directly before the beautiful celestial mage. Lucy forced herself to hold still as he lifted his un-transformed hand and let a finger run along the skin on her throat. He leered at her.

"I might need a bit more… incentive. How about this, Dollface. We will leave your precious little friends alone, if you guide us to your former guild. Naked."

Lucy's eyes widened in outrage and fear when the man before her bent down lower and lifted his steel claws to her eyes.

"I will even help you out of your clothes."

This was it. Lily didn't care how impossible the odds were, he was not going to stand by while this bastard took advantage of Lucy. The others apparently thought the same, as Romeo enlarged his staff, Wendy got into position for a dragons roar and Happy and Charle readied their aerial magic like Lily to try and fly their friends out of here and as close to Fairy Tail as possible.

Before any of them could make a move though, a fire encased fist shot right into the scarred face and propelled the man back, crashing into some of his underlings and knocking them to the ground with him.

The enraged fire dragon slayer stood protectively in front of the shocked celestial mage, glaring death at the man who had dared lay his dirty fingers on her.

"Hands off my Luce!"

"Natsu!"

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Alright, one more chapter still to go.

Let's continue right on to some fanfic recommendations: Please remember to check out the comments for recs as well.

**A New Era,** Author: TheSilverKey13: A fantasy AU with (what I suspect will be) a lot of action. Pairing: Natsu/Lucy (as well as other canon pairings). There isn't much yet, only 3 chapters so far, but the premise and what I learned from the author during our little talk, is very promising. Give it a go.

**Fairy Tail High School, **Author: jalexis4eva: A modern day AU. Pairing: Natsu/Lucy. I really liked the character portrayal so far and the story is nicely structured. Again, there isn't much to the fic yet, two chapters last time I checked, but I have a good feeling with this one.

**The Demon Lord, **Author: PARADISE.x: Fantasy AU (at least I think it is) Pairing: Natsu/Lucy. I recommend this fic with great reluctance. Not because its bad or anything, but rather because so far there is only one chapter with only a little over 1000 words and it has been more than a month since the work got published. I'm actually hoping that if more and more people give feedback and make their desire to see more of the fic known, the author might be persuaded to continue soon.

**In your Arms, **Author: TheSilverKey13: Pairing: Natsu/Lucy. After upsetting Lucy, Natsu gets turned into a little child. Lucy takes care of him. One word: Cute!

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As I thought this would be my last chapter, I had prepared a few summaries for you to give me an idea on what story to focus on next.

Most don't have a title yet.

**Story number 1:** Possible working title: Dark Shadows / Shadow Corruption / Creeping Shadows / Dormant Shadows – No, this fic has nothing to do with Rogue.

Pairing: Natsu/Lucy

Tags: Natsu being overly protective/possessive, romance, drama, humor, suspense, kidnapping, imprisonment (not jail)

Summary: After a near death experience for Lucy, Natsu gets just a TAD bit overprotective.

**Story number 2:** Possible working title: How to care for Team Natsu.

Pairing: Natsu/Lucy

Tags: Humor, friendship, some romance, some fluff, mostly humor.

Summary: After receiving some encouraging words from probably the last person she expected them from, Lucy decides to do a few solo missions – just to prove to herself that she can do it. The only problem? Who is gonna take care of Team Natsu while she is gone? Well, everyone gets a shot at it.

**Story number 3:** No title so far

Pairing: Natsu/Lucy (romance), Laxus/Lucy (sibling like)

Summary: Lucy needs the help of an S-Class mage to take on a particular mission, but the only one available at the time is Laxus. While on their mission, the two grow closer.

Focuses mostly on the developing bond between Laxus and Lucy, when the blond dragon slayer learns more about her past. I have a huge portion of a particular dialogue already written for this one. And really, only brotherly/sisterly feelings between the two.

**Story number 4:** Fairy Tail AU (means the story plays in the Fairy Tail universe, but one character has a different beginning, changing a few things)

Possible working title: A Star Returned.

Pairing: Laxus/Lucy

Summary: What if Lucy was a little older, had joined Fairy Tail a little earlier, and she and Laxus had been inseparable. Until something happens (working on that) and Lucy has to leave for an undetermined amount of time. But when she is still not back after six years… could Laxus have a different reason for the Fantasia arc?

**Story number 5:** No title so far.

Pairing: Natsu/Lucy

Summary: If Lucy had gotten sick the day before the S-Class exams, Doranbolt didn't exist and Cana paired up with Wendy. What would have changed for the Fairy Tail Guild over those seven years if Lucy had remained in Magnolia?

So which one should I focus on first?

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Reviews

**Dreamer372:** I hope that was soon enough. Thanks for the review.

**LaLunaSole:** Thanks for your nice words. Yes, Natsu really was cute in this one. I was even angry at the girls for making things so hard on him while writing it. :-)

**raydark182:** You are right indeed. Holding on to grudges usually just makes everyone involved miserable. Thanks for the review.

**MaroonAngel of Darkness:** You know, your idea has some merit. Though personally I think Gildarts will eventually become Master. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and thank you for the review.

**ZeldaWithAShotgun:** Thank you a bunch. I'm blushing again. :-)

**PandaGirl:** Thank you very much for your contribution. Got any more recs? And thanks so much for the feedback.

**Adorable Reader:** Yes, he was very cute in this, wasn't he? I tried to keep his thought process somewhat in character, which of course isn't completely possible with such a story. But I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the comment.

**Arrow of Artemis:** Thank you for your kind words. The speeches in the last chapter gave me quite the headache. I'm glad you liked them.

**GoldenRoseTanya:** Yes, I love HoneyFlowers stories as well. Who doesn't enjoy an overly possessive Natsu? So, anything you can think to recommend for your fellow readers by any chance? You don't have to, just if you know any at the moment. Thanks for the comment.

**DitgitalDrama:** Wow, this is one of the nicest compliments I have gotten. Thank you so much. :-)

**DeathGoddesses**: Don't worry, Natsu got there in time, our little hero, and the others aren't far behind. But all will unravel in the next chapter. Thanks for the comment.

**JustAnAnon:** Thank you for your great recommendations. Though I'm personally not going anywhere near the Leukemia story (I don't like the thought of my beloved characters dying, a reason why I don't read tragedies.), but many other people will surely be grateful for you for pointing it out. Also thanks for giving a little detail to your recs, it makes it easier for the reader to decide if they should give it a shot. And you didn't barrage me at all, I was really psyched to see so many story recs. Got any more? And thank you very much for your kind review.

**claude crane:** I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for your review.

**Jackpot 2:** Thank you again for your great review on the chapter. Did you get my last message?

**Inori. D:** Well, the chapter should have answered your questions. :-) Thanks for your chapter, it really showed your enthusiasm for the story.

**novicewriter14:** No, I certainly didn't plan on letting you all wait too long. I hope I was fast enough, and as you can see, there will still be one more chapter in store for you. Thanks for the comment. :-)

**The Musings of a Muse:** Hey there, thanks again for your review on Ao3! And great that you found the story here too. This is always the first place I update. Hope you liked it.

**Skyda:** … Marry me!

**XxmidnightssexynessxX: **Thank you for your review. I hope you liked this chapter, even though we didn't get to the part where Natsu tells Lucy what he has figured out. :-)


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Natsu took a deep breath, trying to calm down enough to ask one of his friends what the hell was going on. It hadn't taken him long at all to catch up to Lucy, Happy and the others when he had run from the guild. After all, he had been plenty motivated after his little 'epiphany'. But the sight of a large group of people before his six friends had made him speed up even more. And when he saw this guy standing far too close to _his_ Lucy and actually **touching** her, he had snapped.

With a little fire boost he had smashed his enflamed fist into the bastards face and sent him flying back into his buddies.

He knew though that his action had been rather impulsive and that he might need to get a little more information about the current situation.

Not that he regretted punching the guy or anything. Bastard deserved it for touching her.

When he turned around to face his friends, however, any and all pretense of calmness flew out the window.

Romeo and Happy had gained new bruises and scrapes, some of which were bleeding. His dragon slayer enhanced vision allowed him to see the already forming finger prints around Romeo's throat. As his gaze drifted to Lucy, his already narrowed eyes became even more dangerous looking. She was pale, slightly trembling, and a single tear was gathering in the corner of her eye.

With barely contained rage, he forced the words out of his mouth.

"What. Happened?"

Before anyone else had the chance, Charle answered him.

"These wizards are here to take over the guild! The man with the scars attacked Romeo and Happy and was trying to strip Lucy naked and force himself on her later on!"

The white exceed might consider Natsu to be a horrible influence on her young charge, and a destructive idiot most of the time, but she also knew how - sometimes frighteningly - protective he was of his loved ones. And right now, an angry, protective dragon slayer was exactly what they needed to deal with those menaces.

The leader of Poison Blade had meanwhile managed to untangle himself from his underlings and stand up. Ignoring the looks his fellow guild members gave him, waiting for him to give them the signal to strike back at his assailant, he rubbed his aching chin with his human hand. Damn, but that had hurt. He may have been irritated before, but now he was freaking angry. That son of a bitch that punched him was going to pay for that with his blood, and after that, Dollface was going to pay with her body!

He directed his gaze to his soon to be victim and, without being consciously aware of it, froze.

Natsu was literally fuming. The flames weren't merely surrounding his body, they were consuming him. His eyes had turned into two bright dots encased in darkness. Lucy had to take a step back as the very air around him became uncomfortably hot.

Scarface shook himself out of his frozen state. He was the fearsome leader of Poison Blade. He had killed more people than anyone else in his guild, and before him stood a deranged looking KID with fucking PINK hair! The brat had just gotten in a lucky hit, that was all! He was no match for him and his steel claw magic!

Confident now in his ability to rip his opponent to shreds, the man stepped forward. Not without spotting the symbol on the boys arm though.

"What, another one of you?! Just how many of you fucking fairies are still crawling around here?"

"Try all of us."

Lucy's and the others eyes widened in relieved surprise as they heard Gray's voice from behind them. They turned around and sure enough, there stood the rest of their guild.

The members of Poison Blade looked at the Fairy Tail wizards they had foolishly believed to be anywhere else but here, suddenly not so sure anymore if coming to Magnolia had been a good idea.

Natsu however had not turned around when hearing the others arrive. His eyes were zeroed in on the man with the scarred face before him. The man that had the audacity to barge into _his_ town, threaten _his_ guild, raise his hand against _his_ friends and try to force himself on **HIS LUCE!**

His voce was deep, dark and unlike anything his friends had ever heard from the young man.

**"I'm gonna burn you to a crisp!"**

And with that he practically exploded into motion. A fiery kick thrust Scarface against the same house he had thrown Happy at just minuets ago. But this time, the wall cracked from the brutal impact. Two of Poison Blade's members tried to attack Natsu from behind, but were stopped by an ice wall. Confused by the walls sudden appearance, they hesitated a moment too long and received a punch in the face and a kick to the chest by Fairy Tails dark haired ice mage, knocking them back a few paces.

"Watch your back Flame Brain!"

But Natsu didn't rise to the insult, or even remotely reacted as if he had heard his frienemy. At the next second, he was gone, heading straight for the man picking himself up from the slight rubble of the house wall he had cracked.

Gray looked after the pink haired dragon slayer, a little stunned.

_/Damn that guy must have pissed him off good!/_

He was ripped out of his thoughts when a powerful stream of water shot by his back, washing away the sword wielding mage that had snuck up behind him.

"Juvia will not allow anyone to hurt her beloved!"

Gray quickly turned and sent the blue haired water mage a thumbs up.

"Thanks Juvia!"

Before the beet red Juvia could stutter out a response, Gajeel ran by Gray, his arm transforming in preparation of the fight.

"You should listen to your own advice, Stripper!"

Angry now, Gray readied his own magic and turned to the enemy wizards.

"Say that again Metal Head, I dare you!"

Erza had just re-quipped into her Flame Empress Armour and was wiping the floor with five opponents.

"You shouldn't talk like that to your friends!"

A ring of purple fire and smoke suddenly surrounded four other mages of the rogue guild.

"I will teach you not to mess with my son!"

Macao and Wakaba stood side by side.

Somewhere in the fray, Elfman could be heard bellowing "Fighting like a MAN!" as well as Evergreens immediate answer "Stop spouting nonsense and help me carry these stone statues!"

A few of the slightly smarter Poison Blade members were starting to realize that they had been very wrong to assume that Fairy Tail was no more and were trying to get away while their comrades were being beaten into the ground by the impressive guild. They had made about four steps back the way they came from, when three men appeared right in front of them.

Laxus, Freed and Bixlow smirked down at the group of about eight retreating mages. Sparks of electricity were running along the blond dragon slayers arms.

"So, you clowns thought about taking over our guild, huh?"

Bixlow's babies repeated the word "clowns clowns" just before a bold of lightning shot down on the unfortunate group of mages who had understood their mistake too late.

The few wizards that hadn't joined the fight against Poison Blade, had meanwhile ushered Romeo, Wendy, Happy, Lucy, Lily and Charle to a safe distance. Mirajane looked them over worriedly.

"Are you alright? Romeo, Happy? Should we take you to the infirmary? Is anyone else of you hurt?"

They shook their heads, while Levy used her script magic to summon some bandages and antiseptic salve to treat the wounds on both Romeo and Happy with Lisanna's help. Cana took a closer look at Lucy, still able to make out traces of the blonds previous scare.

"Did that jerkface do anything to you Lucy? Did he touch you?"

A little intimidated by the brunettes stare, Lucy quickly waved her arms before her in a negative fashion.

"No, no, nothing happened. I mean he tried, but that's when Natsu came and... how come you all are here anyway?"

Master Makarov stepped forward, a serious expression on his face.

"We came after all of you to apologize, actually. What you said made us all finally see the errors of our ways. And as it turns out, we didn't leave the guild a minute too soon. Tell me my child, was that the insignia of the Poison Blade guild I saw on one of them?"

The tiny man was looking at the battle between his brats and the other mages, though it would probably be more accurate to call it a one-sided beat down.

Lucy nodded to the masters question.

"Yes. Apparently there are rumours going around everywhere that Fairy Tail is no more and they thought they could use the opportunity to claim Magnolia for themselves."

The master nodded grimly while watching his guild take care of the presumptuous thugs.

"I see our actions have had some far reaching consequences. Well, we are going to rectify the situation as soon as Poison Blade is dealt with and handed over to the authorities."

And by the look of things, that wasn't going to take much longer. Most of the enemy mages were already lying in a pile of beaten and unconscious bodies, while the rest of Fairy Tail just finished off the last of them. Overlooking the battle area, the celestial wizard couldn't help but search for a pink mop of hair.

_/Where is Natsu?/_

Said dragon slayer was currently busy beating the living daylights out of the leader of the rogue guild.

Scarface tried fighting back, but his opponent _/A fucking brat, god dammit!/_ was far too fast and way too strong for him. He would either avoid or block the otherwise deadly blows of his steel claw and the few cuts that Scarface was lucky enough to land, didn't even seem to register with the pink haired young man. The next fiery punch sent the scarred man crashing backwards into some empty, wooden barrels that had been left by the road. They shattered upon his impact, countless splinters embedding themselves into his skin.

A painful groan ripped from his throat as he tried righting himself to an upward position. This was humiliating. He was Duncan McCoy, the leader of the notorious Poison Blade build, a terror to all that even breathed his name.

How could a fucking brat with god damn pink hair beat him like this?

His angry thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he felt himself lifted by the front of his shirt and staring directly into the dark, enraged eyes of the Salamander of Fairy Tail.

"This was for harming my friends."

Then Scarface's eyes widened fearfully when he saw the boy before him catch on fire once again.

"And this is for touching _my_ Lucy!"

His scream echoed through the streets of Magnolia as Duncan McCoy, feared leader of the rogue guild Poison Blade, was taught the painful lesson that you don't touch a dragon slayers girl.

The others just stared as Natsu dragged behind him the unmoving, charred body of their enemies leader, and dumped him unceremoniously on the pile of bodies.

"He is still alive, right Natsu?"

Erza's question was met with an almost disappointed seeming nod from Natsu, who then quickly looked to his blue furred best friend.

"You alright buddy?"

Lisanna was just placing a bandage on the last of his cuts. The exceed smiled at him happily.

"Aye! I'm good now!"

Natsu nodded, then glanced over at Romeo, who was being looked over by his father.

"How about you lil' bro?"

Romeo beamed, proud to be called a brother by his idol.

"I'm fine! Not like this creep could really hurt me!"

He tried to pull off a cool pose, but aggravated one of his injuries with the movement and cringed. Wendy was by his side in the blink of an eye.

"Don't push yourself too much Romeo. Does your head still hurt? Your neck? Do you need me to heal you?"

The young sky maiden's closeness caused a horrible blush to spread all over the boys face and he quickly looked away from her big, warm, worried eyes as he stuttered out an answer.

"I-I-I'm ok, Wendy, no n-n-n-n-need to worry!"

Everyone surrounding them grinned or snickered at the display, while Mira was already caught up in planning their first date.

Now that he had made sure that no one was hurt badly, his eyes finally settled on Lucy, who was smiling at him. He walked towards her, gripped her wrist, forced out a "I need to talk to you." and then quickly dragged her a little ways away from the others and into a nearby alley.

There he turned around and backed her against one of the two houses. As soon as her back touched the wall, he rested his hands on either side of her head, leaning in a little closer himself. Lucy stared at her rosy haired partner, a growing worry on her face.

"Natsu? Is something wro-" His finger on her lips silenced her effectively.

"No. Now it's your turn to listen to me, Luce. Because I have figured out a few things, too."

When he was sure the blond wouldn't interrupt him, his finger released her lips, though he instantly missed the soft feel of them on his skin.

"First, I _don't like it_ when you are not by my side!"

Then he stepped even closer to her, forcing Lucy to press her body more against the wall behind her, his arms still caging her in firmly. He looked deeply into her chocolate coloured eyes, his face so close that she could feel his warm breath on her lips.

"Second-" Without wasting another moment, he closed the little distance remaining between them and kissed her full on the lips.

Lucy's eyes widened in shock and disbelieve at what was happening. Not knowing if she should kiss him back or push him away, she just stood there motionless for a few seconds. But when he came closer still, pressing his own muscular body into hers and his lips began moving against her own, deepening the kiss, she closed her eyes, sighed, and reciprocated.

When, after what might have been both hours and mere seconds, they parted, Natsu's hands were secured around her waist and neck, keeping her pressed against him, while Lucy's hands had made their way into his hair, where they were currently curled into his pink locks.

They were both panting, but when Lucy finally caught her breath again, she stared into the dark charcoal eyes before her, with a mixture of elation and anxiety.

"What does this mean?"

A small smile stole itself over the dragon slayers lips and he gently laid his forehead against hers.

"It means that you are mine. And that you won't go off without me anymore, no matter how boring it is. And that I get to do this a lot more."

With that, he leant in for another breath-taking kiss, to which Lucy happily complied.

They might have blissfully gone on like this for the rest of the day, if it wasn't for the sudden and very familiar exclamation of "They llllike each other!"

Caught off guard, the two quickly stopped their little make out session and looked to the entrance of the alley - they did not, however, let go of each other. And there before them, crammed into the narrow entrance between the two houses, stood all of Fairy Tail. Some were blushing (like Levy, Erza and Wendy), some snickering (like Gray, Laxus and Gajeel), some with hearts in their eyes and daydreaming of wedding bells and cute little rose haired children with big brown eyes (Mira),but most of them were smiling broadly as they started to whistle and cheer for the new couple.

Lucy's face turned into formerly undiscovered shades of red, while Natsu grinned brightly and hugged her closer to him.

"Try LOVE, Happy!"

At that, Lucy's head snapped up to him, forgetting her embarrassment for the moment.

"L-love? You love me?"

Natsu looked at her in a way that made her feel as if she had just asked the dumbest question in the world. Then he grinned.

"Of course I do you weirdo."

The nickname earned him a slap on his arm.

"I'm not a weirdo!" Then softer, she replied. "I love you, too."

And she swore she had never seen such a happy expression on the dragon slayers face, just before he leant in to kiss her yet again. And this time, the cheering and cat calls from the rest of their guild didn't bother them one bit.

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It had taken about half an hour for the authorities to send the needed personnel to pick up the mostly still unconscious members of Poison Blade and take them away. There had been a short discussion on whether or not the leader would require immediate medical attention, but as soon as they were gone, the whole of Fairy Tail made their way to Magnolia's one and only orphanage.

Of course, only after Lucy had a near panic attack when she realized that she wasn't carrying the black suitcase anymore. Thankfully, Gajeel had found it quickly in a shadowed corner of the street.

"No wonder you are always complaining about not having enough rent money if you keep losing it like this, Bunny Girl." The teasing comment had been followed by a very quick, highly uncharacteristic, hug from the big man. The softly whispered "Thanks, Lucy." had made the celestial wizard smile brightly. Natsu, however, had not been impressed with the display and the two dragon slayers had tried their best to bash each other's face in on the way through the forest.

To say the kids had been ecstatic about the visit of this many cool wizards was an understatement. But when Lucy, together with the master, presented Inga with the suitcase full of big jewel notes, the poor woman nearly fainted. It had taken them some work, but eventually they convinced Inga that yes, she could accept the money and no, it wasn't too much.

The older woman had tears of gratitude in her eyes as she, Lucy, the master, Levy, Mirajane and Freed started discussing better living arrangements in the city, while the rest of the guild entertained the young ones. Naturally, Natsu and Gray got into a fight while playing with some of the kids, that Gajeel joined in on not long after. After Lisanna, Cana, Warren and Jet had gotten the children to a safe distance, they got to witness their first ever match between mages.

Though there were a lot of things the kids didn't understand, for example why it was necessary for the one using ice magic to strip down to his boxers, or what exactly the names Flame Brain and Metal Head meant, there was one thing all of them learned that day without fail.

When Erza 'Titania' Scarlett enters the field, you stop fighting immediately, bow down and pray for mercy. You do not, under any circumstances, tell her to "Shut it we are busy!"

By the time the Fairy Tail crew took their leave, Natsu, Gray and Gajeel had just regained conciousness. And though the salmon haired young man usually hated undergoing Erza's crazy harsh punishment, he hadn't minded as much this time. After all, who in their right mind would, when it got him to lay in Lucy's lap the whole time and wake up to her smiling, slightly worried/slightly scolding face?

The master had made plans with Inga to go to the mayor the next day and see about finding a building that would suit her and the children. Mirajane and Levy had volunteered to keep an eye on the kids while the woman was in the city. That had automatically prompted Freed to offer his services as a babysitter as well, while Levy had just sat there, staring at Gajeel until - "God dammit Shrimp stop giving me those puppy eyes already, I'll help look after the brats!" - he gracefully gave in.

That left the others free to tackle the overflowing mission board back at the guild. Apart from Wendy, Romeo, Lily, Charle, Lucy and Happy, that is. Those six were ordered to rest up the next couple of days and not even think about doing any strenuous work until they were fully recovered again.

Juvia was therefore given a temporary spot on Team Natsu to make up for the absence of the celestial mage and exceed a little. A circumstance the blue haired water mage couldn't be happier about, since it afforded her plenty of time with her beloved Gray.

Though Natsu was less than pleased with being separated from Lucy yet again, he was also one of the people that insisted that she and the others take it easy over the next couple of days. So he swallowed his disappointment, tried not to think about the horror that was doing a mission together with the ice princess, his stalker and Monster Erza, and just slipped his hand into Lucy's, who was walking beside him on their way back to town. She smiled sweetly at him when he intertwined their fingers. She then leaned up on her toes and pecked him on the cheek, making him beam.

He decided then that it wouldn't be too bad.

He would just concentrate on the thought of coming home to his Luce.

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END

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It is done. This is the last chapter. The story is now finished.

I want to thank everyone who has supported, reviewed, favourited, followed or just read this story. It really means a lot to me.

I sorry I'm not answering the reviews of the last chapter, as I usually do, or give any story recs here, but I'm kinda pushing the clock as it is right now and if I don't get this done in the next 5 minutes, I will have to wait two more days before I can upload this chapter. Gonna be gone on another seminar and have to get up real early tomorrow to catch the train.

Oh, before I forget, the next story will be the Laxus Lucy sibling story (number 3). Though more people voted for story number 1 ( the overprotective Natsu story), the people voting for number 3 made some interesting points, which is why I have decided to work on this one first.

Once again, thank every one for the support.


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